r 


Friends,  Society  of 
Philadelphia  yearly  meeting. 


A  Declaration  of  the  learly 
Meeting  of  Friends,  held  in 
Philadelphia 


6X7752 
.F9I 


i 


V 


A 

DECLARATION 

OF  THE 

YEARLY  MEETING  OF  FRIENDS, 

HELD  EN" 

RESPECTING   THE   PROCEEDINGS  OF    THOSE  WHO   HAVE  LATELY 
SEPARATED   FROM  THE   SOCIETY  : 

AND  ALSO,  SHEWING 

THE  CONTRAST 

BETWEEN"   THEIR   DOCTRIXES    AND   THOSE  HELD 

BY  FRIENDS. 


PHILADELPHIA 

PRINTED  BY  THOMAS  KITE. 

1828 


A  DECLARATION 
OF  THE 

YEARLY  MEETING  OF  FRIENDS,  See. 


At  a  Yearly  Meeting  of  Friends  held  in  Philadelphia,  by  adjourn- 
ments from  the  2\st  of  the  Fourth  month,  to  the  28th  of  the  same,  in- 
clusive, 1818 — 

The  Meeting  for  Sufferings  having  been  engaged  in  preparing  a 
declaration  of  the  principal  causes  and  progress  of  the  schism  which 
has  taken  place  on  the  part  of  some  under  our  name,  within  the  limits 
of  this  Yearly  Meeting,  and  which  also  exhibits  the  doctrines  of  the 
Separatists,  contrasted  with  the  principles  and  faith  of  our  religious 
Society,  it  was  deliberately  read  ;  and  the  meeting  being  brought  into  a 
serious  consideration  of  .he  affecting  evidence  which  it  furnishes,  of 
the  desolating  consequerces  produced  by  the  spirit  and  principles  of 
unbelief  and  insubordination,  and  believing  that  it  is  due  to  the  cause 
of  Christianity,  and  the  reputation  of  our  religious  Society,  to  bear  our 
testimony  to  the  world,  agairst  the  antiscriptural  doctrines,  and  disor- 
ganizing proceedings  an  1  conduct  of  the  Separatists,  fully  unites  with 
this  declaration  and  testimony,  and  directs  it  to  be  signed  by  the  clerk, 
and  published  on  behalf  of  this  meeting.    It  being  as  follows. 


In  taking  a  view  of  the  situation  of  our  Religious  Society,  and  of  the 
various  exercises  and  close  trials,  which  those  who  love  our  Lord  Je- 
sus Christ,  have  had  to  pass  through,  we  believe  it  important  to  pre- 
serve a  faithful  narrative  of  the  schism  which  has  taken  place  among 
some  under  our  name,  and  to  trace  the  subtle  workings  of  that  spirit 
of  unbelief  and  insubordination  which  has  been  the  primary  cause  of 
it — a  spirit  which  has  been  privily  brought  in  among  us,  under  the  spe- 
cious appearance  of  a  refined  spirituality,  but  which  has  blinded  the 
understandings  of  many,  and  led  them,  step  by  step,  into  an  open  de- 
nial of  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  the  Christian  religion,  as  they  are 
laid  down  by  our  blessed  Redeemer  and  his  apostles,  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures. 


(  4  ) 

Previous  to  entering  on  the  proposed  narrative,  it  may  not  be  im- 
proper to  notice  the  rise  of  our  Religious  Society,  and  some  of  the 
troubles  which  befel  it  during  its  infancy.  It  pleased  the  Lord  Al- 
mighty in  the  dispensations  of  his  infinite  wisdom  and  goodness,  to  ga- 
ther our  worthy  predecessors  out  of  the  various  professions  and  wor- 
ships of  the  world,  to  release  them  from  the  formalities  of  a  ceremo- 
nial religion,  and  by  the  immediate  teachings  of  his  Holy  Spirit  to 
bring  them  to  the  knowledge  of  himself,  as  he  is  revealed  in  and 
through  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ.  Instructed  in  the  nature 
of  that  worship  which  is  acceptable  to  the  Father,  and  yielding  obedi- 
ence to  the  discipline  of  the  cross,  they  yrere  led  into  purity  of  life  and 
conversation,  evincing  great  tenderness  of  conscience,  and  a  fear  of 
doing  any  thing  which  might  bring  a  shade  upon  their  holy  profession. 
Thus  they  became  as  "  a  city  set  on  a  hill  that  could  not  be  hid,"  and 
many  were  convinced  of  the  truth,  and  joined  in  fellowship  with  them. 

In  the  faithful  maintenance  of  the  doctrines  and  testimonies  com- 
mitted to  them,  they  endured  much  persecution  and  bitter  suffering,  but 
notwithstanding  the  various  obstacles  they  had  to  contend  with,  the  socie- 
ty rapidly  increased,  and  when  William  Pem  received  the  grant  of  Penn- 
sylvania, many  of  the  members  migrated  with  him,  and  found  a  peaceful 
retreat  from  the  persecutions  which  awaited  them  in  their  own  land. 
The  privations  which  they  were  subjected  to  in  a  new  country,  being 
favourable  to  that  simplicity  and  self-denia1.  which  their  profession  in- 
culcates, they  became  a  religious  body  comprising  many  substantial 
and  divinely  gifted  members,  in  whose  hands  the  cause  of  truth  pros- 
pered, and  many  meetings  were  established.  But  the  old  Adversary 
who  envies  the  advancement  of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom,  and  is  ever 
busily  striving  to  lay  waste  the  work  of  righteousness  in  the  earth, 
wrought  upon  the  hearts  of  some  restless  and  ambitious  individuals, 
who  had  once  been  favoured  instruments  in  the  Lord's  hand,  filling 
their  minds  with  envy  and  prejudice  against  ftieir  brethren,  and  lead- 
ing them  into  open  opposition  to  those  things,  which  in  the  days  of 
their  fidelity,  they  had  believed  in — and  finally  into  separation  from 
the  Society.  This  was  sorrowfully  the  case  with  John  Wilkinson  and 
John  Story  and  their  party  in  England.  The  apostacy  and  misconduct 
of  these  Separatists,  brought  great  reproach  upon  the  Society,  and 
subjected  those  who  stood  firm  in  their  first  love,  to  deeper  exercises, 
and  more  painful  trials,  than  all  the  outward  afflictions  which  they  en- 
dured from  their  cruel  persecutors.  It  was  a  common  outcry  among 
them,  "  Away  with  your  order  ;  let  every  one  be  left  to  his  liberty." 
They  made  "  disturbances  in  meetings  to  the  breaking  of  the  Church's 
peace,  causing  divisions  amongst  friends  ;  publishing  to  the  world 
wicked  and  scandalous  books  against  friends  ;  shutting  and  keeping 
Friends  out  of  their  common  meeting  houses,  in  which  they  have  a 
just  right  and  property,  and  not  suffering  them  to  meet  therein  ;  and, 
at  length,  also  set  up  separate  meetings,  in  opposition  to  the  meetings 
of  God's  people."    See  Ellwood's  Journal,  p.  275. 

In  this  country,  the  peace  and  harmony  of  our  religious  Society,  was 
early  interrupted  by  George  Keith.    His  ambitious,  aspiring  disposi- 


(  5 ) 


tion,  led  him  to  attempt  introducing  innovations  in  principle  and 
practice,  and  when  he  found  that  discerning  friends,  would  not  be 
drawn  into  his  measures,  he  endeavoured  to  divide  the  Society,  and 
to  set  up  a  yearly  meeting,  and  other  separate  meetings,  within  the 
limits  of  this  Yearly  meeting.  But  the  Society  steadily  adhered  to  its 
doctrines  and  discipline,  whilst  he  and  his  party,  persisting  in  their  dis- 
organizing attempts,  were  scattered  from  the  fold  of  Christ,  and  many 
of  them  were  finally  disowned.  The  revolutionary  war  was  produc- 
tive of  new  trials  upon  the  stability  of  the  Society.  Numbers  were 
drawn  aside  to  violate  its  testimony  against  war,  but  while  such  ex- 
perienced much  unsettlement,  the  sincerely  exercised  and  faithful 
members,  were  more  closely  united  In  a  deep  religious  concern,  for 
their  preservation  upon  the  sure  foundation,  that  they  might  give 
practical  evidence  of  the  peaceable  nature  of  the  Messiah's  kingdom, 
by  acting  on  all  occasions  consistently  therewith.  Thus,  though  it 
has  been  assailed  by  severe  trials,  within  and  without,  the  Society  con- 
tinued as  a  body  firmly  united  in  faith  and  discipline,  and  through  the 
mercy  and  protection  of  our  holy  and  divine  Leader,  was  still  enabled 
to  hold  up  a  light  to  the  world. 

Causes,  however,  have  been  operating  for  several  years,  to  pre- 
pare the  way  for  the  introduction  of  opinions,  repugnant  to  our  reli- 
gious principles  and  doctrines,  and  tending  to  lay  waste  that  love  and 
Christian  fellowship,  which  have  so  conspicuously  distinguished  the 
Society,  and  given  effect  to  its  exertions  in  the  cause  of  universal 
righteousness.  Lukewarmness  respecting  the  important  work  of  re- 
ligion, an  increasing  love  of  the  world,  and  an  eager  pursuit  of  its 
riches,  pleasures  and  fashions,  disqualifying  many  for  usefulness  in  the 
church,  introduced  weakness,  and  eclipsed  the  brightness  of  our 
Christian  profession,  which  had  shone  so  eminently  in  the  example  of 
our  worthy  ancestors.  Others,  who  were  influenced  by  a  restless  aspir- 
ing disposition,  have  at  different  periods  opposed  the  administration  of  a 
sound  discipline,  and  endeavoured  to  throw  off  those  salutary  restraints, 
indispensible  to  the  existence  of  every  well  regulated  society.  Among 
other  causes  which  have  contributed  to  its  weakness,  is  the  too  easy 
reception  of  papers  of  acknowledgment  from  those  who  had  trans- 
gressed the  discipline,  and  the  admission  of  persons  into  membership 
who  had  not  been  sufficiently  grounded  in  the  doctrines  of  the  Chris- 
tian faith.  But  one  of  the  most  fertile  sources  of  evil,  has  been  me  neglect 
of  many  of  our  members,  in  not  bestowing  upon  their  offspring  a 
guarded  religious  education;  labouring  to  imbue  their  susceptible 
minds  with  the  saving  truths  of  the  gospel,  and  habituating  them  to 
frequent  reading  of  the  holy  scriptures.  For  want  of  this  godly  con- 
cern on  the  part  of  parents  and  teachers,  many  of  our  youth  have 
grown  up  in  great  ignorance  of  those  all-important  subjects,  as  well  as 
of  the  history  and  principles  of  our  ancient  Friends  ;  so  that  many 
have  fallen  an  easy  prey  to  the  cavils  and  sophistry  of  designing  men, 
who  were  seeking  to  lead  them  astray,  by  infusing  doubts  into  their 
minds  respecting  the  truths  of  the  Christian  revelation. 

In  the  lapse  of  a  few  years,  it  has  pleased  the  Lord  in  his  unsearch- 


J 


(  6  ) 

able  wisdom,  to  remove  from  works  to  rewards,  many  eminent  ser- 
vants, who  stood  as  faithful  watchmen  upon  the  walls  of  Zion,  and  being 
clothed  with  the  spirit  of  discernment,  were  enabled  to  detect  the  va- 
rious stratagems  of  the  enemy,  and  to  defeat  his  attempts  to  lay  waste 
the  Society.    Sentiments  promulgated  at  different  periods  by  Elias 
Hicks,  a  minister  belonging  to  Jericho,  on  Long  Island,  occasioned 
great  uneasiness  in  the  minds  of  some  of  those  friends,  and  others, 
who  privately  communicated  their  apprehensions  to  him.    A  spi- 
rit of  libertinism  and  independency,  fostered  and  strengthened  by 
the  neglect  of  proper  discipline  in  families,  prepared  many  to  listen 
with  delight  to  such  sentiments,  which  were  before  unknown  in  the 
communications  of  our  ministers.    The  disclosure  of  his  views,  how- 
ever, was  gradual,  and  for  a  long  time  in  a  very  covert  manner.  The 
subordination  and  respect  due  from  youth,  to  age  and  experience, 
which  true  religion  ever  enforces,  were  undermined  by  his  frequent 
suggestions,  that  their  elder  friends  were  "  sticking  in  the  traditions  of 
their  fathers,  and  could  not  go  on  with  the  work  of  reformation,  and 
it  was  therefore  necessary  that  the  young  people  should  come  forward 
and  take  the  lead."    The  observance  of  the  first  day  of  the  week,  was 
held  up  as  being  superstitious  ;  and  those  who  did  not  join  with  him  in 
rejecting  the  products  of  slave  labour,  were  compared  with  the  most 
abandoned  and  wicked  characters,  and  pronounced  to  be  unfit  to  take 
any  part  in  promoting  the  cause  of  Truth.    Whilst  he  thus  boldly  de- 
nounced those  who  could  not  adopt  his  views,  others  were  flattered 
and  enlisted  with  his  attentions ;  and  thus  the  Society  was  gradually, 
and  imperceptibly  divided  by  his  doctrines,  and  the  strong  contrasts 
which  he  drew,  between  different  portions  of  it. 

Under  the  plausible  pretext  of  exalting  the  "light  within,"  as  the 
primary  rule  of  faith  and  practice,  he  endeavoured  to  lessen  the  autho- 
rity of  the  Holy  Scriptures  ;  and,  when  he  had  greatly  impaired  the 
sentiments  of  reverence  justly  due  to  their  divine  testimony,  be  pro- 
ceeded to  speak  of  our  blessed  Saviour,  as  being  merely  an  example 
or  pattern  to  us,  and  denied  that  his  death  was  an  offering  for  the 
sins  of  mankind,  except  for  the  legal  sins  of  the  Jews,  calling  him 
the  Jewish  Messiah.  Faithful,  experienced  friends,  who  were  es- 
tablished in  the  doctrines  of  Christ  and  his  apostles,  and  who  saw 
the  baneful  consequences  that  must  result  from  the  promulgation  of 
such  opinions,  were  brought  under  much  painful  solicitude,  for  the 
preservation  of  the  Society,  as  many  were  caught  with  the  specious- 
ness  of  his  arguments,  and  the  bold  and  confident  manner  with  which 
he  advanced  them.  Having  proceeded  further  in  avowing  his  disbe- 
lief in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  the  Saviour  of  men,  publickly  declar- 
ing, that  the  same  power  that  made  him  a  Christian,  must  make  us 
Christians,  and  that  the  same  power  that  saved  him,  must  save  us  ;  he 
was  again  privately  laboured  with,  in  order  to  convince  him  of  his 
error  ;  and  upon  being  told  that  if  he  persisted  in  preaching  these  doc- 
trines, so  contrary  to  the  scriptures,  and  the  testimony  of  our  ancient 
Friends,  it  would  produce  one  of  the  greatest  schisms  that  had  ever 
happened  in  the  Society,  he  admitted  that  it  would  produce  a  schism. 


( ' ) 

but  that  it  would  soon  be  over,  for  he  believed  his  doctrines  must 
and  would  prevail.  He  was  so  confirmed  in  his  sentiments,  that  he 
said  he  should  persevere  therein,  "  let  the  consequences  be  ichat  they 
might  r 

In  the  twelth  month,  1322,  Elias  Hick3  came  to  Philadelphia,  with 
certificates  from  his  Monthly  and  Quarterly  meetings,  to  pay  a  visit 
to  some  parts- of  our  Yearly  meeting",  including  the  families  of  two  of 
the  Monthly  meetings  in  this  city.  It  was  well  known  to  many  friends, 
that  he  was  charged  with  holding  and  propagating  opinions,  incompat- 
ible with  the  doctrines  always  held  by  our  religious  Society,  and  some 
of  the  elders  being  informed  by  two  friends  who  were  present  at  a 
meeting  in  the  Southern  Quarter,  that  he  there  advocated  such 
opinions,  two  of  them  called  upon  him  on  his  arrival  in  Philadelphia, 
and  stated  the  information  they  had  received,  and  proposed  an  interview 
between  him  and  these  two  friends,  which  he  refused  to  accede  to. 
Another  attempt  was  made  to  procure  such  an  interview,  which  he  also 
rejected.  As  the  friends  of  Elias  Hicks,  as  guardians  of  the  ministry, 
and  of  the  flock  over  which  they  were  placed  as  overseer?,  the  elders 
believed  it  to  be  their  duty  still  to  seek  a  conference  with  him,  that 
"if  any  incorrect  statement  had  been  made,  it  might  be  speedily 
rectified,  or  if  true,  that  he  should  be  possessed  of  the  concern  and 
judgment  of  his  friends  thereon."'  But  after  a  time  and  place  was 
fixed,  they  failed  in  their  brotherly  attempt  to  obtain  the  proposed  in- 
terview, by  his  encouraging  a  number  of  his  partizans  to  intrude  them- 
selves into  the  company.  The  elders  then  addressed  a  letter  to  him, 
declaring  that  they  "  could  not  have  religious  unity  with  his  conduct, 
nor  with  the  doctrines  he  was  charged  with  promulgating."  In  a 
subsequent  communication,  having  the  accounts  of  his  unsoundness 
corroborated  by  his  publick  discourses  in  this  city,  they  state  that  they 
were  "fully  and  sorrowfully  confirmed  in  the  conclusion,  that  he  holds 
and  is  disseminating  principles  very  different  from  those  which  are 
held  and  maintained  by  our  religious  Society,  and  that  as  he  had  closed 
the  door  against  the  brotherly  care  and  endeavours  of  the  elders  for 
his  benefit,  and  for  the  clearing  our  religious  profession,  they  think  the 
subject  ought  to  claim  the  weighty  attention  of  his  Friends  at  home." 

From  this  period  may  be  dated  the  regular  organization  of  a  party 
devoted  to  his  interests.  Active  exertions  were  used  by  those  who 
have  since  stood  conspicuous  amongst  the  promoters  of  the  present 
separation,  to  enlist  every  one  they  could,  in  favour  of  him  and  hi3 
opinions.  Unjust  and  unfounded  representations  were  industriously 
spread  throughout  the  Society,  in  order  to  create  a  prejudice  against 
those  who  could  not  conscientiously  approbate  his  conduct,  and  anti- 
christian  views,  especially  against  friends  in  Philadelphia,  who  openly 
avowed  their  disunity  with  him.  Much  animosity  was  manifested  by 
his  adherents,  and  the  false  reports  and  opprobrious  epithets,  applied 
to  those  who  bore  a  faithful  testimony  against  his  principles  and  min- 
istry, gave  ample  proof  of  the  origin,  and  disorganizing  tendency  of 
such  doctrines. 

Under  these  circumstances  our  Yearly  meeting  convened  in  1823. 


(  8  ) 

Amongst  the  subjects  which  had  claimed  the  attention  of  the  Meeting 
for  Sufferings,  they  believed  it  proper  as  representatives  of  the  Yearly 
meeting,  to  disclaim  certain  controversial  essays,  printed  in  a  period- 
ical paper  at  Wilmington,  Delaware,  appearing  to  be  written  in  the 
name  of  the  Society,  but  which  contained  sentiments  incompatible 
with  those  it  had  always  held  and  professed.    A  short  minute  for 
the  purpose  was  adopted  and  forwarded  to  the  editor ;  a  few  selections 
from  me  writings  of  Friends  were  also  prepared  by  a  committee  to 
accompany  the  minute,  shewing  our  faith  upon  those  controverted 
points  of  doctrine.    But  the  meeting  deciding  that  the  minute  would 
be  sufficient,  it  was  agreed  to  print  the  selections  in  a  pamphlet,  to  be 
distributed  to  our  members,  for  the  purpose  of  reminding  them  of  those 
excellent  Christian  principles  which  our  forefathers  held,  and  suffered 
for.    When  the  minutes  of  the  Meeting  for  Sufferings  were  read  in 
the  Yearly  meeting,  its  authority  to  prepare  those  selections,  was 
questioned  by  some  of  those  who  have  since  separated  from  us  ;  many 
severe  reflections  were  passed  upon  that  body  ;  and  much  disturbance 
created  by  the  disaffected  upon  this  occasion.    While  some  professed 
to  admit,  that  the  sentiments  contained  in  the  extracts  might  be  cor- 
rect, they  unjustly  charged  the  Meeting  for  Sufferings,  with  attempting 
to  impose  a  creed  upon  the  Society  ;  others  condemned  the  doctrines 
themselves,  as  contrary  to  scripture,  reason,  and  revelation,  although 
selected  from  works  which  had  been  repeatedly  approved  by  the  So- 
ciety.   Great  noise  and  confusion  prevailed  amongst  them,  and  the 
meeting  adjourned.    At  the  next  sitting,  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  dis- 
affected party,  proposed  that  those  extracts  should  be  expunged  from 
the  minutes  of  the  Meeting  for  Sufferings ;  but  as  this  would  have  im- 
plied a  disavowal  of  the  doctrines  they  contained,  the  meeting  refused 
to  accede  to  it.    The  clamour  and  violence  of  the  opposers  was  such, 
that  in  order  to  obtain  a  state  of  quietude  in  the  meeting,  Friends  at 
length  consented  to  direct  the  Meeting  for  Sufferings  to  suspend  the 
publication  of  the  pamphlet,  which  had  been  printed,  and  placed  in  the 
book-room.    We  have  thought  it  right  thus  to  rehearse  the  facts  re- 
lating to  this  subject,  because  they  have  been  grossly  misrepresented 
in  various  places,  and  motives  and  designs  attributed  to  Friends,  which 
were  not  only  untrue,  but  absolutely  unfounded. 

Although  the  disaffected  members  denied  the  right  of  the  Meet- 
ing for  Sufferings,  to  prepare  and  publish  extracts  from  the  writ- 
ings of  our  early  friends,  yet  afterwards  they  themselves  assumed 
the  right  of  doing  so,  and  published  a  pamphlet,  of  extracts,  the 
object  of  which  was  to  support  the  doctrinal  views  of  Elias  Hicks, 
hi  making  their  selections,  great  injustice  was  done  to  the  authors 
from  whose  works  they  were  taken,  material  parts  of  sentences 
being  omitted,  and  in  some  places  words  were  introduced,  so  as 
to  change  entirely  the  true  meaning  of  the  writer,  and  even  to  make 
him  contradict  himself.  In  the  progress  of  this  spirit  of  misrepre- 
sentation and  division,  much  labour  was  privately  bestowed,  to  con- 
vince individuals  of  the  unsoundness  of  the  doctrines  preached  by 
Eliaa  Hicks,  and  by  some  other  ministers  who  had  adopted  his  opin- 


(  9  ) 


ions,  and  to  show  the  desolating  effects  that  would  be  produced  by 
them  upon  the  Society.  But  such  was  the  strength  of  prejudice 
against  sound  friends,  that  arguments  or  entreaties  in  most  instances 
were  unavailing,  and  these  endeavours  to  convince  were  often  met 
with  unkind  reflections  and  criminations. 

From  the  decided  opposition  which  they  had  made  to  the  dissem- 
ination of  unsound  principles,  it  was  apparent  to  the  advocates  of  the 
"  new  views,"  that  the  elders,  and  members  of  the  Meeting  for  Suf- 
ferings, would  present  a  great  obstacle  to  their  general  adoption.  Un- 
wearied efforts  were  therefore  used  to  bring  them  into  discredit,  and 
to  alienate  Friends  from  them  ;  and  after  great  exertion  to  accomplish 
this  object,  a  plan  was  projected  for  altering  the  discipline,  so  as  to 
make  these  appointments  subject  to  frequent  change.  Accordingly, 
in  1825,  the  project  was  introduced  into  one  of  the  Quarterly  meet- 
ings, where  the  disaffected  party  predominated,  and  a  minute  made, 
u  contrary  to  the  solid  sense  and  judgment  of  many  friends,"  proposing 
that  all  important  appointments  should  be  made  for  a  limited  time. 
On  its  introduction  to  the  Yearly  meeting,  much  discussion  ensued,  in 
which  the  party  urged  their  favourite  measure,  but  the  meeting  decid- 
ed, that  such  a  rule  would  be  unsafe,  and  it  was  dismissed. 

As  a  further  means  for  spreading  the  views  of  the  seceding  party, 
and  giving  strength  to  their  cause,  they  widely  circulated  a  volume  of 
discourses,  delivered  by  Elias  Hicks,  in  one  of  his  visits  within  this 
Yearly  meeting,  which  contain  sentiments  correspondent  with  those 
he  had  long  been  charged  with  holding,  directly  repugnant  to  the  glo- 
rious character  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  as  the  Saviour  and  Redeemer 
of  men,  our  Mediator  and  Advocate  with  the  Father,  and  also  under- 
valuing the  Holy  Scriptures.  A  periodical  paper  called  the  Berean, 
devoted  to  the  same  cause,  was  also  set  up,  and  circulated  amongst  our 
members,  in  which  was  a  series  of  essays,  openly  attacking  the  ac- 
knowledged doctrines  of  Friends,  and  tending  to  subvert  their  faith  in 
the  divinity  of  Christ,  and  his  propitiatory  sacrifice  for  the  sins  of  man- 
kind ;  by  which  we  believe  many  have  been  turned  into  the  paths  of 
scepticism,  and  thereby  lost  that  true  peace  and  assurance,  which 
are  only  found  in  the  faith  of  the  gospel.  The  lamentable  effects  of 
the  principles  disseminated  by  such  publications,  became  more  and 
more  obvious.  Accustomed  to  hear  the  sacred  truths  of  Christian 
redemption  called  in  question,  many  lost  that  awe  which  those  solemn 
subjects  had  heretofore  inspired,  and  allowed  themselves  the  liberty  of 
speaking  upon  them  in  a  light  and  very  irreverent  manner.  The 
arising  and  spreading  of  the  power  of  Truth  in  our  assemblies  for 
divine  worship,  was  much  obstructed  by  the  spirit  of  unbelief;  and  op- 
position increased  among  the  disaffected  to  the  administration  of  the 
discipline,  especially  when  it  was  likely  to  displace  any  of  their  own 
party.  In  some  meetings,  where  they  had  the  control,  unjustifiable 
measures  were  adopted  to  promote  party  purposes,  thereby  producing 
great  distress  and  exercise  to  Friends.  Notwithstanding  all  their 
efforts,  they  did  not  obtain  that  complete  ascendency  which  their  lead- 
ers anxiously  desired,  Friends  being  enabled,  through  the  merciful 

B 


(  io  ) 


interposition  of  divine  assistance,  to  maintain  their  ground,  with  a 
good  degree  of  firmness,  against  the  inroads  of  infidelity,  and  the  flood 
of  reproach  and  false  accusations,  which  was  poured  forth  against 
them  ;  arid  the  disaffected  therefore  determined  to  use  some  further 
means  to  bring  about  a  revolution. 

Previous  to  the  Yearly  meeting  in  1827,  John  Comly,  in  the  station 
of  a  minister,  having  obtained  a  minute  from  his  Monthly  meeting,  un- 
der profession  of  religious  concern  to  pay  a  visit  to  Friends,  went  about 
into  different  parts  of  the  country,  holding  private  meetings  with  a 
view  of  promoting  disaffection,  and  preparing  the  minds  of  such  mem- 
bers as  could  be  entrusted  with  his  designs,  for  a  separation  from  the 
Society,  provided  certain  plans  which  were  devised  for  carrying  the 
Yearly  meeting  with  them,  should  fail.  Other  individuals  attached  to 
the  party,  were  busily  engaged  in  attending  different  quarterly  meet- 
ings, endeavouring  to  foment  dissatisfaction,  and  to  procure  the  ap- 
pointment of  persons,  as  representatives  to  the  approaching  Yearly 
meeting,  who  they  knew  would  be  in  favour  of  changing  the  clerk,  a 
measure  which  they  were  anxiously  desirous  to  effect.  Two  of  the 
quarterly  meetings  where  the  Separatists  predominated,  doubled  the 
number  of  their  representatives,  in  the  hope  of  effecting  that  change, 
and  another  increased  its  usual  number  one  half.  Propositions  were 
sent  up  from  those  two  quarterly  meetings,  to  reconsider  the  discipline 
relating  to  the  appointment  of  Elders,  and  members  of  the  Meeting  for 
Sufferings.  By  one  of  them  it  was  proposed  that  "  such  appointments 
be  made  for  a  limited  time  ;"  and  by  the  other,  that  "if  it  may  be 
thought  right  to  continue  said  meeting  [for  Sufferings]  the  appointment 
of  its  members  may  be  exclusively  confined  to  the  Quarterly  meetings 
and  subject  to  their  removal," — and  "  that  Monthly  meetings  shall  be 
authorized  to  remove  elders,  whenever  it  may  appear  their  service  in 
that  station  has  ceased  to  promote  the  best  interests  of  society."  A 
remonstrance  was  also  transmitted  against  the  Meeting  for  Sufferings, 
for  declining  to  acknowledge  the  right  of  the  Southern  Quarterly 
meeting  to  displace  two  of  its  representatives  in  that  body,  without 
discipline,  and  without  any  charge  of  delinquency. 

Many  of  the  members  of  our  religious  Society,  having  now  for  a  long 
time  indulged  a  spirit  of  insubordination,  and  their  affections  having 
become  estranged  from  the  principles  and  doctrines  of  the  Society,  as 
well  as  from  those  friends  who  stood  firm  in  support  of  its  order  and 
discipline,  there  was  little  probability  that  they  would  assemble  at  the 
Yearly  meeting  in  a  proper  state  of  mind  for  transacting  the  weighty 
concerns  of  the  Church,  or  with  a  disposition  to  seek  after  the  judg- 
ment of  Truth.  When  the  representatives  met  at  the  direction  of  the 
Yearly  meeting  to  deliberate  upon  a  Clerk,  and  a  friend  to  assist  him, 
the  disaffected  party  proposed  John  Comly  for  clerk,  and  strong- 
ly urged  the  nomination.  It  was  well  known  that  he  had  been 
actively  engaged  in  holding  those  clandestine  meetings,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  dividing  the  Society,  that  his  partizans  had  pre-determined 
upon  a  change,  in  order  to  get  the  control  of  the  Yearly  meeting,  and 
as  it  was  evident,  the  representatives  could  not  unite  in  a  new  nomi- 


( II ) 


nation,  Friends  believed  it  right  to  advocate  the  continuance  of  the 
present  clerk,  who  had  acceptably  served  the  meeting,  and  been  here- 
tofore chosen  without  opposition.  After  being  together  nearly  three 
hours,  without  any  prospect  of  agreeing,  it  was  proposed  and  acceded 
to,  that  a  friend  should  inform  the  meeting,  they  were  notable  to  unite 
in  any  name  for  clerk.  This  report  was  accordingly  made  to  the 
Yearly  meeting  at  its  next  sitting  ;  and  after  it  was  given  in,  an  an- 
cient friend  arose  and  stated,  that  during  his  attendance  of  that  meet- 
ing, embracing  a  period  of  sixty  years,  it  had  been  the  custom  to  con- 
tinue the  old  clerk,  until  another  could  be  appointed  in  the  unity,  and 
he  therefore  proposed  that  the  present  clerk  should  be  continued, 
which  was  accordingly  done;  a  large  number  of  Friends  expressing 
themselves  in  favour  of  it,  and  several  of  the  opposition  eventually  ac- 
ceding to  it.  It  is  proper  to  state  these  facts,  in  order  to  shew,  that 
the  assertion  made  by  the  Separatists  in  their  address,  that  a  clerk  was 
imposed  upon  the  meeting,  is  without  any  foundation. 

Early  after  the  meeting  convened  on  the  following  morning,  John 
Comly,  the  assistant  clerk,  who  stands  conspicuous  as  a  principal 
leader  among  the  Separatists,  rose,  and  informed  the  meeting  that  an 
irreconcileable  difference  existed  in  the  Society,  and  therefore  he 
could  not  conscientiously  act  as  the  organ  of  a  body  under  this  cir- 
cumstance, and  proposed  an  indefinite  adjournment  of  the  meeting. 
As  there  would  have  been  no  difficulty  in  supplying  his  place,  had  he 
simply  requested  to  be  released,  it  was  evidently  his  design  to  disband 
the  Yearly  meeting,  and  thereby  furnish  his  party  with  a  pretext  for 
setting  up  a  meeting  of  their  own,  with  a  clerk  devoted  to  their  view3 
and  purposes.  Friends  were  sorrowfully  affected  with  a  sense  of  the 
mischievous  workings  of  a  rending,  disorganizing  spirit,  that  was 
seeking  to  overturn  the  excellent  order  which  had  been  long  esta- 
blished amongst  us,  and  to  reduce  the  Society  to  a  state  of  anarchy 
and  confusion,  which  had  been  heretofore  so  signally  owned  and  pre- 
served, by  the  blessed  presence  of  the  Great  Head  of  the  Church. 
Still  favoured  with  confidence  in  his  mercy  and  all-sufficiency,  they 
remained  calm  and  centered  to  the  divine  gift  in  themselves,  while 
the  disaffected  party  were  urging  the  meeting  to  adjourn.  When  it 
was  found  that  they  could  not  succeed  in  breaking  up  the  meeting, 
but  that  it  was  enabled  to  maintain  its  dignity  and  authority,  in  refus- 
ing to  comply  with  the  unprecedented  and  disorderly  proposal  for  an 
indefinite  adjournment,  the  assistant  clerk,  notwithstanding  his  pre- 
vious declaration,  offered  to  serve  the  meeting.  A  fair  opportunity 
had  thus  been  given  to  all  disaffected  persons,  to  prevent,  if  practicable, 
the  continuance  of  the  meeting,  or  if  they  were  so  disposed,  to  with- 
draw from  all  participation  in  its  proceedings.  It  was  the  next  sitting 
to  that  in  which  the  clerks  had  been  reappointed,  but  so  far  from 
withdrawing,  many  of  those  who  have  since  seceded  were  earnest  in 
requesting  John  Comly  to  continue  at  the  table,  which  the  meeting 
submitted  to.  By  thus  reappointing  the  assistant  clerk  on  his  own 
proposal,  the  Separatists  fully  recognised  the  organization  of  the  Year- 
ly meeting,  and  were  consequently  bound  by  its  conclusions.  They 


(  '2  ) 


moreover  recognised  it,  by  uniting  in  its  decisions  on  several  subse- 
quent occasions,  particularly  in  raising  a  sum  of  money  to  aid  our 
brethren  of  North  Carolina,  in  removing  the  coloured  people  under 
their  care.  When  the  extracts  from  the  minutes  of  the  Yearly  meet- 
ing were  sent  down  to  the  Quarterly  meetings,  they  were  read  and 
minuted  in  all  of  them  but  one  ;  and  all  the  quarters  raised  their  se- 
veral proportions  of  money,  as  directed  by  the  Yearly  meeting,  and 
paid  it  into  the  hands  of  the  regular  treasurer,  to  be  placed  at  the  dispo- 
sal of  the  xMeetingfor  Sufferings,  thereby  anticipating  the  continued  ex- 
istence of  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting  on  its  original  foundation,  and 
its  representative  body  the  Meeting  for  Sufferings.  Notwithstanding 
which,  the  Separatists  have  been  so  disingenuous,  as  to  assume  its  title, 
and  have  unjustly  attempted  to  make  the  impression  on  the  public,  that 
their  association  which  they  have  since  formed,  contrary  to  the  order  of 
our  Society,  is  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  Philadelphia. 

In  relation  to  those  propositions  which  were  forwarded  to  the  Year- 
ly meeting  from  the  three  Quarterly  meetings,  it  is  proper  to  remark, 
that  a  number  of  the  Separatists  held  a  private  meeting,  in  which  they 
concluded  to  propose  that  they  should  be  dismissed,  which  was  accord- 
ingly done  at  their  own  suggestion.  After  having  decided  in  a  meet- 
ing composed  exclusively  of  their  own  party,  that  the  subjects  should 
be  postponed,  with  what  candour  or  justice  can  they  allege  their  dis- 
missal, as  an  accusation  against  the  Yearly  meeting  ? 

During  the  week  of  the  Yearly  meeting,  the  Separatists  held  several 
other  secret  meetings  among  themselves,  in  violation  of  that  harmony 
and  brotherhood  which  had  been  so  conspicuous  amongst  Friends,  in 
order  to  arrange  a  plan  for  dismembering  the  Yearly  meeting.  At 
these  meetings  they  prepared  an  address  to  the  members  of  our  Reli- 
gious Society,  in  which  they  say  ; — 

"  Our  attention  has  been  turned  to  the  present  condition  of  this 
Yearly  meeting  and  its  different  branches,  and  by  evidence  on  every 
hand,  we  are  constrained  to  declare  that  the  unity  of  this  body  is  in- 
terrupted ;  that  a  division  exists  among  us,  developing  in  its  progress 
views  which  appear  incompatible  with  each  other,  and  feelings  averse 
to  a  reconciliation.  Doctkixes  held  by  one  part  of  society  and  which 
we  believe  to  be  sound  and  edifying,  are  pronounced  by  the  other  part 
to  be  unsound  and  spurious.  From  this  has  resulted  a  state  of  things 
that  has  proved  destructive  of  peace  and  tranquillity,  and  in  which  the 
fruits  of  love  and  condescension  have  been  blasted,  and  the  comforts 
and  enjoyments  even  of  social  intercourse  greatly  diminished.  Mea- 
sures have  been  pursued  which  we  deem  oppressive  and  in  their  na- 
ture and  tendency  calculated  to  undermine  and  destroy  those  benefits, 
to  establish  and  perpetuate  which,  should  be  the  purpose  of  every  re- 
ligious association." 

It  must  be  obvious  to  every  one  who  reads  this  narrative  of  the 
facts  connected  with  the  progress  of  the  separation,  that  the  intro- 
duction of  antichristian  opinions  has  been  the  grand  cause  which  has 
led  to  it ;  and  however  the  Separatists  may  have  since  endeavoured 
to  cover  their  designs  and  to  make  a  different  impression,  in  the  ex- 


(  13  ) 


tract  we  have  just  made  from  the  first  exhibit  of  their  grievances, 
they  there  fully  admit  that  they  have  their  origin  in  doctrinal  differ- 
ences. 

They  proceed  to  declare,  "  It  is  under  a  solemn  and  deliberate  view 
of  this  painful  state  of  our  affairs,  that  we  feel  bound  to  express  to  you, 
under  a  settled  conviction  of  mind,  that  the  period  has  fully  come, 
in  which  we  ought  to  look  towards  making  a  quiet  retreat  from  this 
scene  of  confusion,  and  we  therefore  recommend  to  you  deeply  to 
weigh  the  momentous  subject,  and  to  adopt  such  a  course  as  truth, 
under  a  solid  and  solemn  deliberation  may  point  to,"  &c.  It  is  evi- 
ident  from  this  address,  that  the  minds  of  those  who  adopted  it,  were 
fully  prepared  for  a  separation  from  our  religious  Society,  and  for  the 
establishment  of  an  association  of  their  own,  and  we  might  suppose 
they  were  sincere  in  wishing  to  "make  a  quiet  retreat."  But,  at 
the  sitting  of  the  Yearly  Meeting,  directly  succeeding  the  evening  on 
which  this  address  was  agreed  upon,  they  again  came  into  our  meet- 
ing and  made  violent  opposition  to  a  concern  which  was  brought 
from  our  women's  Yearly  meeting  for  appointing  a  committee  to  visit 
the  Quarterly  and  Monthly  meetings.  This  proposal  having  been 
weightily  considered  and  united  with  by  the  women's  meeting,  was 
cordially  received  by  many  brethren  ;  but  the  Separatists  perceiving 
that  it  would  interfere  with  their  plans  for  drawing  away  our  mem- 
bers, and  with  the  contemplated  dissolution  uf  the  Yearly  meeting, 
raised  a  great  outcry  against  it.  Such  was  the  tumult  they  threw 
themselves  into,  that  friends,  who  desired  all  their  conclusions  might 
be  under  the  calming  influence  of  the  presence  of  the  Head  of  the 
Church,  doubted  for  a  time,  whether  that  solemn,  quiet  deliberation 
could  be  attained,  which  would  warrant  them  in  making  the  appoint- 
ment. At  this  juncture  the  meeting  Wis  informed  by  a  friend  who 
was  at  the  separate  meeting  held  the  preceding  evening,  of  the  con- 
clusions then  adopted,  and  that  further  measures  were  suggested  for 
effecting  their  disjunction;  the  inconsistency  of  their  attempting  to 
control  the  decisions  of  the  meeting  after  having  virtually  withdrawn 
from  it  was  so  palpable,  that  convicted  of  it  themselves,  they  then 
proposed  to  leave  the  appointment  exclusively  to  Friends,  and  when 
their  noise  ceased,  a  covering  of  peaceful  solemnity  spread  over  the 
meeting,  under  which  the  appointment  was  made  with  much  unanim- 
ity, and  we  believe  it  was  a  measure  that  originated  in  best  wisdom. 

At  this  sitting  the  meeting  closed  its  business  and  adjourned  to  meet 
again  next  year,  at  the  usual  time  specified  in  its  printed  constitution. 
It  appeared  to  be  quite  as  numerously  attended  as  any  other  sitting  du- 
ring the  week,  and  no  opposition  was  made  to  the  adjournment  by  a 
single  member,  which  was  a  tacit  admission  on  the  part  of  the  disaf- 
fected, that  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting  would  convene  at  the  usual 
time  and  place  ;  and  consequently  the  assembly  of  any  part  of  it  at  a 
different  time,  under  that  name,  is  a  mere  assumption,  without  any 
claim  whatever  to  its  title  or  character. 

In  the  6th  month  following  the  Separatists  held  another  meeting  at 
Green  Street,  and  issued  an  epistle  to  our  members,  in  which  they  as- 


(  1"  ) 


sert  that  the  committee  just  alluded  to,  44  was  appointed  without  the 
unity  of  the  meeting,  and  contrary  to  the  solid  sense  and  judgment  of 
much  the  larger  number  of  the  members  in  attendance."  This  charge 
is  incorrect,  and  extremely  ungenerous.  Having  determined  as  far 
as  was  in  their  power  to  dissolve  the  bands  of  society,  and  throw  it  in- 
to a  state  of  distraction  and  confusion,  it  could  not  be  supposed  they 
were  in  a  state  of  mind,  qualified  to  exercise  any  solid  sense  and  judg- 
ment respecting  such  a  concern,  or  that  they  would  unite  with  a  mea* 
sure  which  must  in  considerable  degree  disconcert  their  schemes. 
After  coming  to  a  resolution  to  make  a  quiet  retreat,  it  was  certainly 
highly  indecorous  in  them  to  interfere  in  the  transactions  of  those  they 
professed  to  be  retreating  from  ;  but  although  they  did  not  unite  with 
the  concern,  many  of  them  openly  acquiesed  in  it. 

It  was  not  long  after  the  rise  of  the  Yearly  meeting,  before  the  work 
of  disorganization  commenced.  Notwithstanding  the  Separatists  pro- 
fess in  their  address,  to  have  no  other  discipline  to  propose  to  those  in 
unity  with  them,  but  that  of  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting,  in  the  fol- 
lowing week  Green  street  Monthly  meeting  declared  itself  independent 
of  Philadelphia  Quarterly  meeting,  to  which  it  belonged,  and  after- 
wards was  received  as  a  branch  of  Abington  Quarter,  contrary  to  the 
discipline  and  usage  of  the  Society,  and  regardless  of  the  remonstrance 
of  Philadelphia  Quarter  against  the  measure.  A  considerable  part  of 
Radnor  Monthly  meeting  made  a  like  application,  and  was  received 
by  the  same  Quarter  as  though  it  was  the  Monthly  meeting.  A  similar 
course  was  pursued  by  Bucks  Quarter,  in  receiving  a  part  of  Mount 
Holly  Monthly  meeting,  a  branch  of  Burlington  Quarterly  meeting. 
Members  of  Other  Monthly  meetings  applied  to,  and  were  acknow- 
ledged as  members  by  Darby  and  Byberry  Monthly  meetings,  without 
certificate  and  without  removing  their  residence,  and  in  several  in- 
stances, while  they  were  under  care  for  violations  of  the  discipline. 
Byberry  Monthly  meeting  and  Abington  Quarter,  attempted  to  set  up 
a  separate  meeting,  composed  of  persons,  some  of  whom  were  dis- 
owned, and  others  not  their  members,  and  to  constitute  it  a  Monthly 
meeting,  within  the  limits  of  Philadelphia  Quarter.  Thus  the  rights 
of  meetings  have  been  invaded,  the  judgment  of  Friends  expressed 
in  opposition  to  these  proceedings  totally  disregarded,  and  the  long 
established  order  and  usage  of  the  Society  infringed  and  laid  waste. 

In  the  sixth  month  epistle  they  say, "  We  therefore,  (fee.  have  agreed 
to  propose  for  your  consideration,  the  propriety  and  expediency  of 
holding  a  yearly  meeting  for  Friends  in  unity  with  us,  residing  within 
the  limits  of  those  Quarterly  meetings,  heretofore  represented  in  the 
Yearly  meeting  held  in  Philadelphia ;  for  which  purpose  it  is  recom- 
mended that  Quarterly  and  Monthly  meetings,  which  may  be  prepared 
for  such  a  measure,  should  appoint  representatives  to  meet  in  Phila- 
delphia, on  the  third  second-day  in  the  tenth  month  next,  at  10  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  in  company  with  other  members  favourable  to  our 
views,  there  to  hold  a  Yearly  meeting  of  men  and  women  friends," 
•fee.  To  prepare  the  members  for  this  measure,  the  principal  leaders 
have  been  busily  engaged,  in  holding  meetings  "  heretofore  unknown 


( l« ) 


to  the  Society  ;"  and  in  attending  Quarterly  and  Monthly  meetings, 
for  the  purpose  of  detaching  them  from  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting. 
In  effecting  their  disjunction  from  Friends,  many  of  them  conducted 
on  various  occasions,  with  great  clamour  and  indecorum,  employing 
terms  of  abuse  against  those,  whom  they  charged  with  domination  and 
arhitrary  proceedings,  by  which  our  religious  meetings  were  conveited 
into  scenes  of  uproar  and  confusion.  Instead  of  quietly  withdrawing 
from  our  communion,  according  to  their  public  professions,  individuals 
w7ho  had  been  disowned,  or  whose  cases  were  upon  the  minutes  of 
their  Monthly  meetings,  repeatedly  came  into  meetings  to  which  they 
had  never  belonged,  and  by  their  presence,  or  rude  interference,  pre- 
vented Friends  from  transacting  the  business,  and  obliged  them  to  ad- 
journ, when  they  and  their  party  kept  the  house  to  serve  their  own  pur- 
poses. They  have  changed  the  time  of  holding  mid-week  meetings 
in  some  instances,  and  when  Friends  have  come  to  the  house  on  the 
usual  day,  they  have  found  it  locked  and  they  debarred  an  entrance. 
Wherever  it  has  been  in  their  power,  though  they  pretend  to  retreat 
from  us,  they  have  obtained  possession  and  control  of  the  meeting- 
houses, so  that  Friends  in  many  parts  of  the  country,  notwithstanding 
they  adhere  to  the  principles,  and  discipline,  and  worship  of  the  Society, 
have  been  obliged  to  provide  themselves  with  accommodations  else- 
where. As  they  depend  very  much  upon  the  influence  of  numbers, 
indefatigable  exertions  have  been  used,  and  various  schemes  resorted 
to,  in  order  to  induce  persons  to  join  their  ranks.  Not  only  has  division 
been  thus  brought  into  meetings  which  had  heretofore  harmonized, 
but  domestic  peace  and  comfort  has  been  in  many  instances  affectingly 
broken  up,  by  the  baneful  influences  of  this  restless,  unhappy  spirit, 
which  has  passed  like  a  flood  through  our  borders,  carrying  away  in 
its  course  many  who  had  appeared  to  be  in  good  measure  settled  upon 
the  immutable  foundation.  But,  alas  !  for  want  of  abiding  in  a  state 
of  humble  watchfulness  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  which  would  have  pre- 
served them  from  the  snares  of  death,  they  have  been  deceived  in  an 
evil  hour  ;  and  confiding  in  their  own  righteousness,  and  in  their  own 
strength,  not  being  able  to  discern  the  nature  of  this  spirit,  they  have 
thus  fallen  a  prey  to  its  insidious  presentations.  The  unsoundness  in 
principle  of  many  of  the  leading  Separatists,  has  been  often  denied, 
notwithstanding  the  plainest  proofs  of  it  have  been  repeatedly  adduced  ; 
and  lest  it  should  prevent  some  fearful,  timid  persons  from  joining 
them,  their  real  sentiments  have,  on  many  occasions,  been  concealed 
or  glossed  over.  Thus,  by  various  artifices  and  unwearied  labours,  a 
considerable  part  of  the  members  in  some  of  the  branches  of  this 
meeting,  have  become  separated  from  the  Society  of  Friends,  and  in 
the  tenth  month  last  held  a  meeting,  under  the  assumed  title  of  Phila- 
delphia Yearly  meeting,  which  adjourned  to  meet  again  on  the  second 
second-day  in  the  fourth  month,  1828. 

Having  endeavoured  to  give  a  faithful  narrative  of  some  of  the  pro- 
minent events  which  have  marked  the  course  of  the  present  schism, 
of  which  it  is  alleged  that  the  promulgation  of  doctrines  subversive  of 
the  faith  of  our  religious  Society,  has  been  the  primary  cause,  it  re- 


(  16  ) 


mains  to  exhibit  these  doctrines  from  works  acknowledged  by  the  Se- 
paratists, and  which  they  have  widely  circulated  for  the  purpose  of 
disseminating  their  views ;  and  also  to  contrast  these  doctrines,  with 
those  which  have  been  always  held  and  professed  by  the  Society  of 
Friends  from  its  rise  to  the  present  day.  It  should  be  distinctly  recol- 
lected, that,  in  the  first  official  document  which  they  issued,  and  in 
which  they  declare  the  grounds  of  their  dissatisfaction  with  Friends, 
the  Separatists  assert,  that  "  doctrines  held  by  one  part  of  Society, 
and  which  we  believe  to  be  sound  and  edifying,  are  pronounced  by  the 
other  part  to  be  unsound  and  spurious.  From  this  has  resulted  a 
state  of  things,  that  has  proved  destructive  of  peace  and  tranquillity, 
and  in  which  the  fruits  of  love  and  condescension  have  been  blasted, 
and  the  comforts  and  enjoyments,  even  of  social  intercourse  greatly 
diminished."  The  address  containing  this  declaration  is  signed  by  di- 
rection and  on  behalf  of  the  meeting  held  on  the  19th,  20th,  and  21st 
of  the  4th  month  1827,  by  John  Comly  and  nine  other  persons  from 
different  parts  of  our  Yearly  meeting,  and  we  regard  it  as  a  candid 
acknowledgment,  that  from  those  doctrines,  which  Friends  pronounce 
"to  be  unsound  and  spurious,''''  but  which  they  "believe  to  be  sound 
and  edifying,"  have  resulted  the  difficulties  in  which  the  Society  has 
been  involved. 

In  their  epistle  issued  in  the  6th  month  following,  they  further  al- 
lege, that "  faithful  friends  in  the  ministry  were  unjustly  charged  with 
preaching  infidel  doctrines,  denying  the  divinity  of  Christ,  and  under- 
valuing the  Scriptures."  We  know  of  no  faithful  friends  against 
whom  these  charges  have  been  advanced.  But  there  are  those,  who 
not  keeping  in  a  state  of  humility  and  subjection  to  the  Cross  of  Christ, 
which  would  have  preserved  them  in  the  unity  of  the  faith,  and  in  a 
willingness  to  endure  suffering  for  the  gospel's  sake,  have  listened  to 
the  voice  of  the  stranger,  and  being  deceived  by  his  transformations, 
as  the  appearance  of  an  angel  of  light,  they  have  by  degrees  lost  their 
habitation  in  the  blessed  truth,  and  made  shipwreck  of  faith  and  of  a 
good  conscience.  Some  of  these  continuing  to  exercise  the  office  of 
ministers,  which  they  once  acceptably  occupied  among  us,  have  been 
led,  step  by  step,  to  broach  doctrines  which  are  subversive  of  the 
Christian  faith,  and  contrary  to  the  doctrines  and  principles  of  our  re- 
ligious Society.  This  defection,  however,  is  not  confined  to  those 
who  were  ministers,  but  there  are  many  others,  who  hold,  and  are  en- 
gaged in  propagating,  the  same  unsound  sentiments.  Their  various 
plans  have  been  arranged  and  directed,  to  procure  the  adoption  of 
these  sentiments,  as  the  faith  of  the  Society  ;  but  disappointed  at  last 
by  their  failure,  and  perceiving  that  Friends  were  increasingly  alive  to 
the  importance  of  preserving  the  Society,  from  the  dangerous  effects 
of  such  doctrines,  the  only  alternative,  in  their  view,  was  a  complete 
severance  from  its  communion. 

We  shall  not  attempt  to  trace  their  unsoundness  through  all  its 
ramifications,  but  we  shall  adduce  evidence  from  their  own  works, 
which  we  believe  must  conclusively  prove,  that  they  deny  the  divinity 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  he  is  the  Redeemer  and  Saviour  of  men, 


( 17 ) 


our  Propitiation  and  Mediator  with  the  Father,  and  also  that  they  un- 
dervalue the  Holy  Scriptures.  The  selections  are  chiefly  taken  from 
the  discourses  of  Elias  Hicks.  Most  of  their  ministers  inculcate  the 
Bame  opinions,  but  we  have  confined  ourselves  to  a  few  of  those  dis- 
courses which  are  before  the  public  in  print.  Extracts  are  also  made 
from  the  Berean,  a  periodical  publication  which  the  Separatists  have 
circulated  for  several  years,  as  a  standard  work  on  the  faith  of  the  So- 
ciety, but  which  we  believe  has  had  a  very  pernicious  effect  in  leading 
astray  many  sincere-hearted  people,  who  were  not  aware  of  the  poison 
that  is  insidiously  conveyed  through  its  pages.  This  work,  speaking 
of  the  volume  of  Elias  Hicks's  discourses,  already  noticed,  says,  "  it 
will  make  the  traditional  outside  christian  startle,  and  the  dreamers, 
high  priests,  the  scribes  and  phaiisees  of  every  denomination  to  gnash 
their  teeth  ;  but  the  great  body  of  the  society  on  this  continent,  of 
which  this  venerable  minister  is  a  member,  together  with  many  other 
unshackled  minds  will  set  their  seals  to  the  doctrines  which  it  contains." 
Vol.  I.  p.  398. 

In  accordance  with  this  declaration,  several  monthly  meetings  in 
which  his  adherents  had  the  rule,  and  who  have  since  joined  the  new 
sect,  prepared  and  issued  minutes  expressive  of  their  satisfaction  with 
him  and  his  doctrines.  But  the  attendance  of  Elias  Hicks  at  the  Ge- 
neral Association  of  the  Separatists,  held  in  this  month  at  Green  street, 
establishes  beyond  all  doubt,  his  unity  with  them  in  breaking  their  con- 
nection with  the  Society  of  Friends  ;  and  by  placing  a  record  on  their 
minutes  of  his  presence,  and  their  satisfaction  with  his  company,  the 
Separatists,  as  a  body,  have  formally  identified  themselves  writh  him  and 
his  antichristian  doctrines,  a  declaration  of  which  he  openly  made  in  ve- 
ry palpable  terms,  in  one  of  their  largest  meetings  on  the  preceding  day. 

We  shall  proceed  with  the  extracts,  commencing  with  their  opinions 
respecting  the  Holy  Scriptures. 

Elias  Hicks  says,  "  If  the  scriptures  were  absolutely  necessary,  he 
had  power  to  communicate  them  to  all  the  nations  of  the  earth,  for  he 
has  his  way  as  a  path  in  the  clouds  :  he  knows  how  to  deal  out  to 
all  his  rational  children.  But  they  were  not  necessary,  and  perhaps 
not  suited  to  any  otlier  people,  than  they  to  whom  they  were  written." 
Philadelphia  Sermons,  page  119. 

"  One  would  suppose  that  to  a  rational  mind,  the  hearing  and  read- 
ing of  the  instructive  parables  of  Jesus  would  have  a  tendency  to  re- 
form and  turn  men  about  to  truth  and  lead  them  on  in  it.  But  they 
have  no  such  effect.    Ibid.  p.  129. 

"  They  have  been  so  bound  up  in  the  letter,  that  they  think  they 
must  attend  to  it,  to  the  exclusion  of  every  thing  else.  Here  is  an 
abominable  idol  worship,  of  a  thing  without  any  life  at  all,  a  dead 
monument.    Ibid.  p.  139. 

"  The  great  and  only  thing  needful  then  is,  to  turn  inward,  and 
turn  our  back  upon  the  letter,  for  it  is  all  shadow.''''    Ibid.  p.  225. 

"  Now  the  book  we  read  in  says,  *  Search  the  scriptures,'  but  this 
is  incorrect,  we  must  all  see  it  is  incorrect ;  because  we  have  all  reason 
to  believe  they  read  the  scriptures,  and  hence  they  accused  Jesus  of 
being  an  impostor.'*    Ibid.  p.  314. 

C 


(  18  ) 


"  He  [Jesus]  does  not  move  us  in  the  least  degree  to  any  book,  or 
ivriting  whatever,  but  leaves  every  thing  outward  entirely  behind  as 
having  passed  by,  for  he  abolisJied  all  external  evidence,  as  not  being 
capable  of  bringing  about  salvation  to  the  soul."    See  Quaker;  E 
Hick's  sermon,  vol.  II.  264. 

"  No  experience  will  ever  be  worth  any  thing  to  us,  which  is  not  our 
own  experience,  begotten  through  the  influence  of  the  blessed  spirit 
of  God."    N.  York  sermons,  p.  123. 

Thomas  Wetherald,  at  an  irregular  meeting  held  at  Green  street,  says, 
"  And  I  want  us  therefore,  in  our  investigation  of  spiritual  things,  to 
bring  spiritual  evidence  to  prove  spiritual  truths.  Let  us  attend  to 
spiritual  reflections,  and  not  be  looking  to  the  Scriptures,  and  to  the 
systems  of  men,  and  to  the  words  of  preachers  ;  for  all  these  being  of 
an  external  character,  can  only  form  an  ignis  fatuus,  which  4  leads  to 
bewilder  and  dazzles  to  blind.'  "    Quaker,  vol.  II.  p.  217. 

In  accordance  with  the  above  sentiments  concerning  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures, the  Berean  says,  "  In  vain  does  any  man  quote  the  Scriptures 
as  authority  for  his  opinions ;  for  if  they  have  not  been  immediately 
revealed  to  his  own  mind  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  they  deserve  no  better 
name  as  it  respects  him,  than  speculations."    Vol.  II.  p.  211. 

"  Those  revelations  were  for  other  times  and  other  states,  and  not 
for  us.  They  belong  to  those  to  whom  they  were  immediately  re- 
vealed. And  that,  and  only  that,  which  is  immediately  revealed  to  us, 
belongs  in  like  manner  to  us  and  to  us  only."      Ibid.  p.  212. 

"  Now  the  revelations  respecting  the  nature  of  God,  which  were 
made  to  the  Israelites,  are  true  when  viewed  as  in  connection  with, 
and  as  having  relation  to  their  spiritual  condition  ;  but  to  any  other 
state,  they  are  not  true  ;  therefore  such  revelations  abstractedly  taken, 
are  not  true  in  themselves — are  not  the  truth  of  god."  Ibid, 
vol.  I.  p.  403. 

We  could  select  many  other  passages  derogatory  to  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures, but  these  are  sufficient  to  show  the  contemptuous  manner  in 
which  they  are  spoken  of  by  the  Separatists  and  their  ministers.  They 
assert  that  they  are  not  necessary,  and  perhaps  not  suited  to  any  other 
people,  than  those  to  whom  they  were  written  ;  they  are  a  thing  with- 
out any  life  at  all,  a  dead  monument,  all  shadow,  upon  which  we 
should  turn  our  backs  ;  that  the  direction  of  our  Lord  to  search  them 
is  not  correct ;  that  his  parables  have  no  such  effect  as  a  tendency  to 
reform  and  turn  men  about  to  truth  ;  that  in  vain  does  any  man  quote 
the  Scriptures  as  authority  for  his  opinions ;  that  without  immediate 
revelation  they  are  no  better  than  speculations  ;  that  they  only  form 
an  ignis  fatuus  which  leads  to  bewilder,  and  dazzles  to  blind ;  that  no 
experience  will  ever  be  worth  any  thing  to  us  which  is  not  our  own 
experience,  and  that  that  only  belongs  to  us,  which  is  immediately  re- 
vealed to  us  ;  and  that  the  revelations  which  were  made  to  the  Israel- 
ites respecting  the  nature  of  God,  ard  not  true  in  themselves  ;  are 

NOT  THE  TRUTH  OF  GOD. 

We  are  not  surprised  that  persons  holding  the  opinions  which  they 
do,  relating  to  the  great  truths  of  Christian  redemption,  should  under- 
value and  endeavour  to  destroy  the  authority  of  the  Holy  Scriptures. 


(  19  ) 


For  so  long  as  they  are  admitted  to  be  a  test  of  doctrine,  all  their  pre- 
tended revelations  which  contradict  the  testimony  of  the  Sacred  Re- 
cord, are  properly  condemned  as  "  unsound  and  spurious."  But  we 
could  not  have  supposed  that  at  this  enlightened  day,  wThen  their  divine 
authority  has  been  so  abundantly  confirmed,  by  the  accomplishment  of 
the  ancient  prophecies,  and  in  the  experience  of  the  true  Christian, 
that  any  of  the  professed  believers  of  the  "light  within"  would  dare 
to  assert,  that  those  divine  revelations  respecting  the  nature  of  God, 
are  not  true  in  themselves,  are  not  the  truth  of  God.  It  is  an  affect- 
ing proof  of  the  dreadful  consequences  of  a  spirit  of  scepticism  and 
unbelief,  that  they  should  become  so  darkened  as  to  speak  in  this  irre- 
verent manner  of  those  weighty  truths  revealed  to  the  Lord's  servants, 
to  whom  he  condescended  to  speak  as  face  to  face. 

The  Society  of  Friends  have  always  fully  believed  in  the  authenti- 
city and  divine  authority  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  acknowledge  them 
to  be  the  only  fit  outward  test  of  doctrines,  having  been  dictated  by 
the  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  which  cannot  err.  They  are  profitable  for 
doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  correction,  for  instruction  in  righteousness, 
that  the  man  of  God  may  be  perfect,  thoroughly  furnished  unto  all 
good  works  ;  and  are  able  to  make  wise  unto  salvation,  through  faith 
which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  ;  and  whatever  any  teach  or  do  contrary 
thereto,  they  reject  as  a  delusion.  Under  a  profession  of  exalting  the 
light  of  Christ  as  the  immediate  means  of  salvation,  which  is  a  doc- 
trine most  fully  believed  by  us,  some  have  undervalued  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures, as  being  unnecessary  to  the  Christian.  It  is  contrary  to  the 
practice  of  the  Society  to  speak  of  them  in  any  such  terms.  We  es- 
teem them  a  great  blessing  to  the  Church,  and  desire  to  cultivate  feel- 
ings of  gratitude  to  the  Great  Disposer  of  events,  for  preserving  them 
through  various  revolutions  and  vicissitudes,  being  fully  persuaded  that 
the  more  we  become  obedient  to  the  manifestations  of  the  light  of 
Christ  in  the  heart,  the  more  precious  and  valuable  are  those  inestim- 
able writings  to  us. 

In  proof  that  these  have  been  the  sentiments  of  the  Society  from  the 
beginning,  we  shall  adduce  the  testimony  of  Robert  Barclay  and  Wil- 
liam Penn.  In  his  Apology  for  the  principles  and  doctrines  of  the 
people  called  Quakers,  which  we  have  always  owned  as  a  declaration 
of  our  faith,  Robert  Barclay  says,  "  In  this  respect  above  mentioned 
then,  we  have  shewn  what  service  and  use  the  Holy  Scriptures,  as 
managed  in  and  by  the  Spirit,  are  of  to  the  church  of  God  ;  wherefore 
we  do  account  them  a  secondary  rule.  Moreover  because  they  are 
commonly  acknowledged  by  all  to  have  been  written  by  the  dictates 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  that  the  errors  which  may  be  supposed  by  the 
injury  of  times  to  have  slipped  in,  are  not  such  but  that  there  is  a  suffi- 
cient clear  testimony  left  to  all  the  essentials  of  the  Christian  faith  ;  we 
do  look  upon  them  as  the  only  fit  outward  judge  of  controversies  among 
Christians  ;  and  that  whatsoever  doctrine  is  contrary  unto  their  testimo- 
ny, may  therefore  justly  be  rejected  as  false.  And  for  our  parts  we  are 
very  willing  that  all  our  doctrines  and  practices  be  tried  by  them  ; 
which  we  never  refused,  nor  ever  shall,  in  all  controversies  with  our 
adversaries,  as  the  judge  and  test.    We  shall  also  be  very  willing  to 


(  20  ) 


admit  it  as  a  positive  certain  maxim,  that  whatsoever  any  do,  pretend- 
ing to  the  Spirit,  which  is  contrary  to  the  Scriptures,  be  accounted  and 
reckoned  a  delusion  of  the  devil."    p.  99. 

William  Penn,  in  his  "  Testimony  to  the  Truth,"  after  stating  some 
groundless  charges  made  against  Friends,  respecting  their  belief  in  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  says,  "  Whereas  we  in  truth  and  sincerity  believe 
them  to  be  of  divine  authority,  given  by  the  inspiration  of  God  through 
holy  men,  they  speaking  or  writing  them,  as  they  were  moved  by  the 
Holy  Ghost ;  that  they  are  a  declaration  of  those  things  most  surely 
believed  by  the  primitive  Christians,  and  that  as  they  contain  the  mind 
and  will  of  God,  and  are  his  commands  to  us,  so  they  in  that  respect 
are  his  declaratory  word  ;  and  therefore  are  obligatory  on  us,  and  are 
profitable  for  doctrine,  reproof,  correction  and  instruction  in  righ- 
teousness, that  the  man  of  God  may  be  perfect,  and  thoroughly 
furnished  to  every  good  work.  Nay  after  all,  so  unjust  is  the  charge 
[preferring  our  own  books,  &c]  and  so  remote  from  our  belief  con- 
cerning the  Holy  Scriptures,  that  we  both  love,  honour,  and  prefer 
them,  before  all  books  in  the  world  ;  ever  choosing  to  express  our  be- 
lief of  the  Christian  faith  and  doctrine,  in  the  terms  thereof,  and  reject- 
ing all  principles  or  doctrines  whatsoever,  that  are  repugnant  there- 
unto. Nevertheless  we  are  well  persuaded,  that  notwithstanding  there 
is  such  an  excellency  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  as  we  have  above  declared, 
yet  the  unstable,  and  unlearned  in  Christ's  school,  too  often  wrest 
them  to  their  own  destruction.  And  upon  our  reflection  on  their 
carnal  constructions  of  them,  we  are  made  undervalues  of  Scripture 
itself.  But  certain  it  is,  that  as  the  Lord  hath  been  pleased  to  give  us, 
the  experience  of  the  fulfilling  of  them  in  measure,  so  it  is  altogether 
contrary  to  our  faith  and  practice,  to  put  any  manner  of  slight  or 
contempt  upon  them,  much  more  of  being  guilty  of  what  maliciously 
is  suggested  against  us ;  since  no  society  of  professed  Christians  in 
the  world,  can  have  a  more  reverent  and  honourable  esteem  for  them 
than  we  have.  John  iv.  24.  xvi.  8.  Rom.  i.  19.  Luke  LI.  2.  Tim. 
iii.  16,  17.  2  Pet.  iii.  16."    Vol.  II.  p.  878. 

The  Separatists  would  appear  to  be  great  advocates  for  divine  reve- 
lation, at  the  same  time  they  declare  that  the  revelations  made  to  the 
Lord's  prophets  respecting  the  divine  nature  are  not  true.  In  refer- 
ence to  all  such  pretensions,  William  Penn  says,  "  That  we  renounce 
all  fantastical,  and  whimsical  intoxications,  or  any  pretence  to  the  reve- 
lation of  new  matter  in  opposition  to  the  ancient  gospel,  declared  by 
Christ  Jesus  and  his  apostles  ;  and  therefore  not  the  revelation  of  new 
things,  but  the  renewed  revelation  of  the  eternal  way  of  truth.  That 
this  revelation  is  the  life,  virtue,  condition  and  very  soul  of  the  Gospel 
and  second  covenant."    Vol.  II.  p.  48. 

In  the  same  essay :  "  If  ye  are  led  by  the  spirit  of  God,  then  are  ye 
sons  of  God  ;  let  this  suffice  to  vindicate  our  sense  of  a  true  and  un- 
erring rule,  which  we  assert,  not  in  a  way  of  derogation  from  those 
Holy  Writings,  which  with  reverence  we  read,  believe  and  desire  al- 
ways to  obey  the  mind  and  will  of  God  therein  contained  ;  and  let 

THAT  DOCTRINE  EE  ACCURSED  THAT  WOULD  OVERTURN  THEM."  Ibid, 
p.  62. 


(  21  ) 


It  must  be  evident  to  every  candid  mind,  that  the  sentiments  of  the 
Separatists  which  we  have  quoted  from  their  own  works,  are  at  per- 
fect variance  with  the  doctrines  of  our  early  Friends  respecting  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  however  they  may  endeavour  to  make  the  impression 
upon  the  public  mind,  that  they  are  one  in  faith  with  them. 

In  the  next  place  we  shall  shew  that  they  deny  the  miraculous  con- 
ception of  our  Lord. 

Elias  Hicks  says,  ""Who  was  his  father  ?  He  was  begotten  of  God. 
We  cannot  suppose  that  it  was  the  outward  body  of  flesh  and  blood 
thai  was  begotten  of  God,  but  a  birth  of  the  spiritual  life  in  the  soul. 
We  must  apply  it  internally  and  spiritually.  For  nothing  can  be  a  Son 
of  God  but  that  which  is  spirit,  and  nothing  but  the  soul  of  man  is  a 
recipient  for  the  light  and  spirit  of  God.  Therefore  nothing  can  be  a 
Son  of  God  but  that  which  is  immortal  and  invisible.  Nothing  visible 
can  be  a  Son  of  God.  Every  visible  thing  must  come  to  an  end,  and 
we  must  know  the  mortality  of  it.  Flesh  and  blood  cannot  enter  into 
heaven.  By  the  analogy  of  reason,  spirit  cannot  beget  a  material 
body,  because  the  thing  begotten,  must  be  of  the  same  nature  with  its 
father.  Spirit  cannot  beget  any  thing  but  spirit ;  it  cannot  beget  flesh 
and  blood.  No  my  friends  it  is  impossible."  Philadelphia  sermons,  p.  10. 

"  Xow  in  his  creed  [the  bishop  of  Rome]  to  which  he  made  all  the 
nations  of  Europe  bow  by  the  dint  of  the  sword,  was  this  of  the  mirac- 
ulous births  therefore  all  children  for  several  hundred  years,  were 
brought  up,  and  educated  in  this  belief,  without  any  examination  in  re- 
gard to  its  correctness.  Finding  this  to  be  the  case,  I  examined  the 
accounts  given  on  this  subject  by  the  four  evangelists,  and  according 
to  my  best  judgment  on  the  occasion,  I  was  led  to  think  there  was  con- 
siderable more  scripture  evidence  for  his  being  the  son  of  Joseph,  than 
otherwise,"  &c.    Elias  Hicks  to  T.  Willis. 

The  Berean  says,  "  The  flesh  was  made,  not  begotten,  for  the  Word 
which  is  spiritual  to  appear  in.  A  body  hast  thou  prepared  me.  This 
does  not  convey  to  my  mind,  the  most  distant  idea  of  the  body  of 
Christ  being  begotten  of  God."    Vol.  II.  p.  27. 

In  these  passages  the  miraculous  conception  of  the  body  of  Jesus 
Christ,  by  the  overshadowing  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  is  plainly  denied ;  as 
such  unworthy  sentiments  are  contrary  to  the  declaration  of  Holy 
Scripture,  we  regard  them  as  the  "spurious"  doctrines  of  infidelity  or 
unbelief. 

The  succeeding  extracts  from  the  public  printed  discourses  of  the 
Separatists,  clearly  prove  their  denial  of  the  divinity  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  his  propitiatory  sacrifice  for  the  sins  of  mankind,  and  degrade 
him  to  a  level  with  his  creature  man,  liable  to  be  lost,  and  standing  in 
need  of  salvation  as  he  does. 

Elias  Hicks  says,  "  For  he  [Jesus  Christ]  had  read  the  law  and  un- 
derstood it,  because  he  was  faithful  to  the  manifestation  of  light ;  and 
it  was  dispensed  to  him,  in  proportion  to  his  necessity  to  understand 
the  law.  For  he  had  not  more  given  him  than  would  enable  him  to  ful- 
fil it,  the  same  as  the  other  Israelites;  for  if  he  had  more,  he  could  not 
be  an  example  to  them."  Wilmington  sermon  ;  Quaker,  vol.  L  pM93. 

"  We  must  turn  our  back  upon  them,  and  come  home  to  the  light 


(  22  ) 


of  God  in  us  ;  for  it  is  the  same  spirit  and  life  that  was  in  Jesus  Christ 
the  Son  of  God.  We  need  not  say  that  it  is  his  spirit,  but  only  that 
it  is  the  same  spirit,  a  portion  of  which  was  in  him ;  because  as  rea- 
sonable beings,  we  must  always  take  things  rationally."  Ibid.  p.  197. 

"  And  what  encouragement  my  friends  we  receive  through  this  me- 
dium, when  we  are  brought  by  the  light  into  a  feeling  of  unity  with 
our  great  pattern,  Jesus  Christ,  and  with  God  our  Creator,  O  see 
how  we  come  up  into  an  equality  with  him."    Darby,  ibid.  p.  13. 

"  And  we  derive  a  portion  of  the  same  [spirit]  which  is  able  to  save 
the  soul  if  properly  obeyed.  Here  now  he  was  put  upon  a  level  " 
&c.    Ibid.  p.  17. 

"Here  we  find  that  the  Son  of  God  saw  no  alternative  ;  for  if  he 
gave  up  his  testimony  in  order  to  save  his  natural  life,  he  could  not  be 
saved  with  God's  salvation :  hence  he  surrendered  to  the  divine  will 
rather  than  to  lose  his  standing  and  favour  with  his  Almighty  Father  : 
and  what  a  blessed  example  it  was."    Ibid.  p.  16. 

"  He  was  tempted  in  all  points  as  we  are.  Now  how  could  he  be 
tempted,  if  he  had  been  fixed  in  a  state  of  perfection  in  which  he  could 
not  turn  aside.  Can  you  suppose  as  rational  beings,  that  such  a  being 
could  be  tempted  ?  No,  not  any  more  than  God  Almighty  could  be 
tempted.  Perfection  is  perfection,  and  cannot  be  tempted.  It  is  im- 
possible.   Philadelphia  sermons,  p.  253. 

It  would  follow  from  this  argument  that  Elias  Hicks  does  not  be- 
lieve that  our  blessed  Lord  was  perfect. 

"  Every  Christian  must  come  up  under  the  influence  of  the  same 
light  that  guided  Jesus  Christ — that  Christ  that  was  his  saviour,  and 
preserver ;  and  that  power  which  enabled  him  to  do  his  work,  will 
enable  us  to  come  on  in  the  same  path.    Quaker,  vol.  I.  p.  44. 

"  I  do'nt  want  to  express  a  great  many  words,  but  I  want  you  to  be 
called  home  to  the  substance.  For  the  Scriptures  and  all  the  books  in 
the  world  can  do  no  more.  Jesus  could  do  no  more  than  to  recom- 
mend to  this  comforter,  which  was  this  light  in  him."    Ibid.  p.  40. 

"  He  never  directed  to  himself  but  all  he  wanted  was  to  lead  their 
minds  to  the  spirit  of  Truth,  to  the  light  within,  and  when  he  had  done 
this,  he  had  done  his  office."    Ibid.  p.  47. 

"  If  we  believe  that  God  is  equal  and  righteous  in  all  his  ways,  that 
he  has  made  of  one  blood  all  the  families  that  dwell  upon  the  earth, 
it  is  impossible  that  he  should  be  partial,  and  therefore  he  has  been  as 
willing  to  reveal  his  will  to  every  creature,  as  he  was  to  our  first  pa- 
rents, to  Moses  and  the  prophets,  to  Jesus  Christ  and  his  apostles. 
He  never  can  set  any  of  these  above  us,  because  if  he  did  he  would 
be  partial."    Philadelphia  sermons,  p.  292. 

"  From  what  Jesus  himself  said,  he  was  not  god."  N.  York  ser- 
mons, p.  96. 

"  He  was  only  an  outward  Saviour,  that  healed  their  outward  dis- 
eases, and  gave  them  strength  of  body  to  enjoy  that  outward  good 
land.  This  was  a  figure  of  the  great  Comforter,  which  he  would  pray 
the  Father  to  send  them  ;  an  inward  one,  that  would  heal  all  the  dis- 
eases of  their  souls,  and  cleanse  them  from  all  their  inward  pollutions, 
that  thing  of  God,  that  thing  of  eternal  life.    It  was  the  soul  that 


(  23  ) 


wanted  salvation,  but  this  no  outward  Saviour  could  do.  no  external 
Saviour  could  have  any  hand  in  it."    Philadelphia  sermons,  p.  50. 

"  The  apostle  had  allusion  to  that  perfect  righteousness  which  is 
the  immediate  saviour  in  the  soul,  Christ  within  the  hope  of  glory  ; 
but  it  was  not  that  outward  Jesus  Christ  that  was  the  hope  of  glory." 
Quaker,  vol.  I.  p.  164. 

"  It  [the  light]  is  truly  God  in  man  ;  for  as  he  fills  all  things,  he 
cannot  be  located  in  any  thing  which  is  capable  of  being  located, 
because  to  suppose  that  all  the  f  ulness  of  God  was  in  Christ,  is  to 
take  him  out  of  every  other  part  of  the  world."    Ibid.  p.  166. 

"  Oh  dearly  beloved  friends,  young  and  old,  may  you  gather  deeper 
and  deeper  to  that  which  is  within  the  veil,  where  we  may  have  ac- 
cess to  our  God  without  any  mediator."    Quaker,  vol.  II.  p.  277. 

The  preceding  selections  have  all  been  taken  from  the  discourses 
of  Elias  Hicks. 

Edward  Hicks,  at  the  Green  street  meeting,  says,  "  I  ask  then  the 
question,  how  did  he  [Jesus  Christ]  leave  the  bosom  of  his  Father  ? 
Can  we  form  no  other  idea  than  that  of  a  corporeal  being,  leaving  a 
located  place,  somewhere  above  the  clouds,  and  coming  down  to  this 
earth  ?  Is  this  the  coming  into  the  world  that  is  meant  ?  I  want  us 
to  go  deeper — to  come  to  the  spirituality  of  these  things,  and  to  re- 
cognise a  spiritual  saviour,  rather  than  an  outward  and  corporeal  one. 
Because  it  is  only  a  spiritual  one  that  can  save  us  from  sin.  That 
animal  body  that  appeared  at  Jerusalem,  had  its  use  and  day,  but  the 
spirit  that  was  clothed  upon  by  the  fulness  of  divine  power,  this  was 
the  Saviour — this  is  the  Saviour  to  whom  I  look  for  salvation,  and  not 
by  any  means  to  any  thing  outward  or  corporeal."  Quaker,  vol.  II. 
p.  151. 

This  declaration  corresponds  with  others  which  we  have  quoted, 
and  is  a  virtual  denial  that  Jesus  Christ  who  appeared  at  Jerusalem, 
is  the  Saviour  of  men.  The  term  animal  body,  used  to  designate  our 
Lord,  is  irreverent,  and  unbecoming  a  creature  dependent  upon  him 
for  salvation. 

The  Berean  says,  "  We  read  that  the  Word  was  in  the  beginning 
with  God,  and  was  God  ;  and  respecting  the  Son  we  read,  this  day 
have  I  begotten  thee  ;  before  this  day  then  the  Son  could  not  have  ex- 
isted.   How  therefore  is  the  Son  from  everlasting  ?"    Vol.  I.  p.  296. 

"  In  what  manner  then,  or  by  what  means  was  he  made  more  than 
man  ?  I  answer  by  the  same  means,  and  in  the  same  manner,  that 
every  other  righteous  undefiled  man  is  raised  above  the  mere  human 
character ;  that  is  to  say  by  the  power  and  spirit  of  God  the  Father." 
Vol.  II.  p.  258. 

"  Will  it  be  presumed,  that  God  whom  the  heaven  of  heavens  can- 
not contain,  whose  presence  fills  the  whole  universe,  abode  in  his  ful- 
ness literally  in  the  man  Jesus  ?  Can  it  be  supposed,  that  he  of  whom 
it  is  declared,  that  he  was  limited  in  knowledge,  power,  and  action, 
possessed  absolutely  the  spirit  of  God  without  measure  ?  I  believe 
not."    Ibid.  p.  259. 

"  He  was  but  an  instrument  and  servant  of  God,  but  more  dignified 
and  glorious  than  any  other  that  had  ever  appeared  in  the  world."  Ibid. 


(  24  ) 


"  The  Christ  then  which  it  concerns  us  to  have  an  interest  in,  is  not 
that  outward  manifestation  which  was  limited  in  its  operations  to  a 
small  province — a  single  nation,  and  to  this  day  knoivn  only  by  history 
to  a  few,"  &c.  Ibid.  vol.  II.  p.  21. 

"  But  the  manifestation  to  us  is  inward,  and  they  [primitive  friends] 
believe  that  it  is  the  Christ  within,  and  not  the  Christ  without,  on 
which  is  founded  their  hope  of  glory."    Vol.  II.  p.  84. 

In  his  attack  upon  the  "  Doctrines  of  Friends,"  the  Berean  says, 
"  The  doctrine  therefore  contained  in  the  chapter  under  review,  as- 
cribing a  proper  divinity  to  Jesus  Christ,  making  him  f  the foundation 
of  every  Christian  doctrine,''  asserting  that '  the  divine  nature  essentially 
belonged  to  him,''  and  constituting  him  a  distinct*  object  of  faith  and 
worship,  is  not  only  antiscriptural,  but  opposed  to  the  simplest  princi- 
ples of  reason  ;  and  is  in  short  among  the  darkest  doctrines  that 

HAS  EVER  BEEN  INTRODUCED  INTO  THE  CHRISTIAN   CHURCH."  Vol. 

II.  p.  259. 

We  are  not  left  to  conjecture  the  opinions  of  those  who  have  sepa- 
rated from  us,  respecting  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  nor  to  draw  our  con- 
clusions from  a  few  isolated  expressions  ;  their  views  upon  the  subject 
are  delivered  in  unequivocal  terms,  and  are  diffused  through  most  of  * 
their  discourses  and  writings.    By  the  extracts  we  have  made  from 
the  discourses  of  Elias  Hicks,  and  the  doctrinal  publications  of  the 
Separatists,  it  is  plain  that  they  directly  assert,  That  it  is  impossible  for 
spirit  to  beget  a  material  body — that  they  cannot  suppose  that  the  body 
of  Jesus  Christ  was  begotten  of  God — that  before  the  day  in  which  it 
was  declared,  I  have  begotten  thee,  the  Son  of  God  could  not  have  ex- 
isted— that  nothing  visible  can  be  a  Son  of  God — that  he  had  no  more 
light  given  him  than  would  enable  him  to  fulfil  the  law,  the  same  as 
the  other  Israelites — that  he  was  but  an  instrument  and  servant  of 
God — that  he  was  raised  above  the  mere  human  character  by  the  same 
means,  and  in  the  same  manner,  that  every  other  righteous  man  is — 
that  he  was  put  upon  a  level  with  us — that  God  who  is  equal  and 
righteous  in  all  his  ways,  never  can  set  him  above  us,  because  if  he 
did  he  would  be  partial — that  Christ  was  the  Saviour  of  Jesus  Christ 
— that  we  need  not  say  that  it  is  his  spirit,  but  only  that  it  is  the  same 
spirit,  a  portion  of  which  was  in  him — that  we  come  up  into  an  equal- 
ity with  him — that  Jesus  could  do  no  more  than  to  recommend  to  the 
Comforter — that  when  he  had  done  this,  he  had  done  his  office — that 
he  never  directed  to  himself — that  he  was  only  an  outward  Saviour,  a 
figure  of  the  Comforter — it  was  the  soul  that  wanted  salvation,  but 
this  no  outward  Saviour  could  do,  no  external  Saviour  could  have  any 
hand  in  it — that  Jesus  Christ  was  not  the  hope  of  glory — that  it  is  not 
that  outward  manifestation  which  it  concerns  us  to  have  an  interest  in 
— that  to  suppose  that  all  the  fulness  of  God  was  in  Christ,  is  to  take 
hiin  out  of  every  other  part  of  the  world — that  it  is  declared  he  was 
limited  in  knowledge,  power,  and  action — that  they  believe  not  that 
he  possessed  the  spirit  of  God  without  measure — that  he  was  not  God 

*  Note. — "  The  reader  is  requested  to  take  notice  that  the  word  distinct  is 
not  used  by  me  in  the  case  to  which  it  is  here,  and  in  several  other  places,  ap- 
plied by  the  Berean."    E.  Bates's  Reply. 


(  25  ) 


— that  we  may  have  access  to  God  without  any  mediator — and  lastly, 
that  ascribing  a  proper  divinity  to  Jesus  Christ,  making  him  the  foun- 
dation of  every  Christian  doctrine,  and  asserting  that  the  divine  na- 
ture esssentiaily  belonged  to  him,  is  among  the  darkest  doctrines  that 
have  ever  been  introduced  into  the  Christian  church. 

On  the  offering  of  our  Lord  upon  the  cross  as  a  sacrifice  for  sin, 
Elias  Hicks  remarks  :  "  But  I  do  not  consider  that  the  crucifixion  of 
the  outward  body  of  flesh  and  blood  of  Jesus  on  the  cross,  was  an  atone- 
ment for  any  sins  but  the  legal  sins  of  the  Jews,"  &c. — "  Surely  is  it  pos- 
sible that  any  rational  being  that  has  any  right  sense  of  justice  or  mercy, 
that  would  be  willing  to  accept  forgiveness  of  his  sins  on  such  terms  !! 
Would  he  not  rather  go  forward  and  offer  himself  wholly  up  to  suffer 
all  the  penalties  due  to  his  crimes,  rather  than  the  innocent  should 
suffer  i  Nay — was  he  so  hardy  as  to  acknowledge  a  willingness  to 
be  saved  through  such  a  medium,  would  it  not  prove  that  he  stood  in 
direct  opposition  to  every  principle  of  justice  and  honesty,  of  mercy 
and  love,  and  show  himself  to  be  a  poor  selfish  creature,  and  unwor- 
thy of  notice."!!!    Elias  Hick's  letter  to  N.  Shoemaker. 

He  further  says  :  "  Did  Jesus  Christ  the  Saviour  ever  have  any  ma- 
terial blood  ?  Not  a  drop  of  it,  my  friends,  not  a  drop  of  it.  That  blood 
which  cleanseth  from  all  sin,  was  the  life  of  the  soul  of  Jesus."  Qua- 
ker, vol.  I.  p.  41. 

"  And  there  is  nothing  but  a  surrender  of  our  own  will,  that  can 
make  atonement  for  our  sins."'    Ibid.  p.  196. 

Nothing  can  atone  for  sin  but  that  which  induced  us  to  sin.'''  Vol. 
II.  p.  271. 

"  And  what  are  we  to  do  ?  We  are  to  give  up  this  life  [our  will] 
to  suffer  and  die  upon  the  cross  ;  for  this  is  the  atonement  for  all  our 
sins."    Ibid.  p.  272. 

At  the  Green  street  meeting  Edward  Hicks  says  :  "  His  work,  he 
[Jesus  Christ]  declared  to  be  finished  previous  to  his  being  crucified 
in  that  outward  body.  Therefore  what  must  we  suppose  will  become 
of  the  doctrine,  so  generally  received  in  the  Christian  world,  that  one 
of  the  main  purposes  of  his  mission,  was  for  him  to  suffer  in  that  out- 
ward body  without  the  gates  of  Jerusalem,  as  a  propitiatory  sacrifice 
for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world  ?  Here  is  a  difficulty  :  for  he  positively 
declares  that  he  had  glorified  his  Father,  and  finished  the  work  that  the 
Father  had  given  him  to  do.  Now  it  must  follow  as  a  rational  and 
clear  conclusion,  to  every  intelligent  mind,  that  he  must  have  told  the 
truth  or  an  untruth.  If  he  told  the  truth,  then  he  had  finished  the 
work  which  his  heavenly  Father  had  given  him  to  do  ;  and  if  he  told 
an  untruth,  the  work  must  have  been  yet  to  do.  But  I  am  not  dis- 
posed to  believe  this.  I  do  believe  in  the  truth  of  the  emphatic  testi- 
mony of  the  Saviour  himself,  I  have  finished  the  work,  and  therefore 
that  his  sufferings  in  the  outward  body,  were  never  incorporated  in  the 
original  design  of  the  blessed  Saviour  s  coming  into  the  world."  Qua- 
ker, vol.  II.  p.  162. 

"  But  my  friends,  the  inward  suffering  of  the  immortal  soul  is  infi- 
nitely superior  to  all  outward  sufferings.  And  if  sin  is  atoned  for  in 
our  souls,  it  will  require  a  sacrifice  proportionable  to  that  which  is  to 

D 


(  26  ) 


be  benefitted  by  it.  So  that  I  apprehend,  under  this  spiritual  dispen- 
sation and  day  of  light,  there  must  be  a  spiritual  and  inward  sacrifice 
for  our  sins.'''    Ibid.  p.  163. 

The  Berean  says  :  "  Whatever  redemption  therefore  was  efFected  by 
the  outward  flesh  and  blood  of  Christ,  it  could  not  in  the  nature  of 
things  be  any  thing  else  than  an  outward  redemption."  Vol.  II.  p.  52. 

"  And  have  we  not  reason  to  hope  that  the  day  is  not  far  distant  when 
the  absurd  and  pernicious  idea,  that  the  imputed  righteousness  of  ano- 
ther, is  the  ground  of  our  acceptance  with  God,  will  be  found  but  in 
the  pages  of  the  historian,  when  tracing  the  fruits  of  that  lamented 
apo'stacy  which  early  overtook  Christendom."    Ibid.  p.  333. 

By  these  extracts  we  may  perceive,  that  Elias  Hicks  and  his  adhe- 
rents deny  the  propitiatory  sacrifice  of  our  blessed  Saviour  upon  the 
cross  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world,  and  consider  that  a  willingness 
to  be  saved  through  such  a  medium,  is  in  direct  opposition  to  every 
principle  of  justice  and  honesty,  of  mercy  and  love,  and  betrays  a  poor 
selfish  disposition,  unworthy  of  notice.  They  believe  that  his  suffer- 
ings in  the  outward  body,  were  never  incorporated  in  the  original  design 
of  his  coming  into  the  world — that  whatever  redemption  was  effected 
by  those  sufferings,  it  was  only  an  outward  redemption,  and  confined 
exclusively  to  the  legal  sins  of  the  Jews  ;  and  in  their  opinion  the  sa- 
crifice of  the  will  is  the  only  atonement  for  all  the  sins  now  committed 
— that  nothing  can  atone  for  sin,  but  that  which  induced  us  to  sin. 
This  doctrine,  as  it  is  contrary  to  the  Holy  Scriptures,  so  it  is  not,  and 
never  was  the  faith  of  the  Society  of  Friends.  We  believe  that  noth- 
ing man  can  do,  or  suffer,  will  atone  for,  or  cancel  his  sins.  They 
are  remitted  by  the  mercy  of  God,  through  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord, 
for  the  sake  of  the  sufferings  and  death  of  Christ,  and  it  is  the  power 
and  efficacy  of  that  propitiatory  offering,  upon  faith  and  repentance, 
that  justifies  both  Jews  and  Gentiles  from  the  sins  that  are  past ;  and  it 
is  the  power  of  Christ's  spirit  in  our  hearts,  that  purifies  and  makes  us 
acceptable  before  God.  "  Being  justified  freely  by  his  grace,  through 
the  redemption  that  is  in  Jesus  Christ ;  whom  God  hath  set  forth  to  be 
a  propitiation  through  faith  in  his  blood,  to  declare  his  righteousness 
for  the  remission  of  sins  that  are  past,  through  the  forbearance  of  God  ; 
to  declare  I  say  at  this  time  his  righteousness  ;  that  he  might  be  just 
and  the  justifierof  him  which  believeth  in  Jesus."  Rom.  iii.  24  to  26. 
u  But  God  commendeth  his  love  towards  us,  in  that  while  we  were  yet 
sinners,  Christ  died  for  us.  Much  more  then  being  now  justified  by 
his  blood,  we  shall  be  saved  from  wrath  through  him.  For  if  when  we 
were  enemies,  we  were  reconciled  to  God  by  the  death  of  his  Son,  much 
more  being  reconciled,  we  shall  be  saved  by  his  life.  And  not  only 
so,  but  we  also  joy  in  God,  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  by  whom 
we  have  now  received  the  atonement."    Rom.  v.  8  to  11. 

Not  only  do  the  Separatists  deny  the  universal  efficacy  of  the  offer- 
ing of  our  Lord,  and  term  the  imputation  of  his  righteousness  as  the 
ground  of  our  acceptance,  a  pernicious  and  absurd  idea,  but  they  ap- 
pear to  rejoice  in  the  hope,  that  the  doctrine  will  be  discarded,  as  the 
fruit  of  the  apostacy  from  the  Christian  faith.  Believing  as  we  do, 
that  it  is  only  a  s  we  come  to  be  divested  of  our  own  righteousness,  and 


(  27  ) 


of  all  confidence  in  it,  and  through  divine  mercy  clothed  upon  with 
the  righteousness  of  Christ,  that  any  can  have  a  firm  ground  whereon 
to  rest  their  hope  of  salvation,  we  sincerely  deplore  the  delusion  of 
those,  who  thus  wantonly  deprive  themselves  of  that  hope,  which  mak- 
eth  not  ashamed,  and  entereth  within  the  veil. 

We  think  that  every  candid  dispassionate  enquirer  after  truth,  who 
sincerely  believes  the  testimony  of  the  Sacred  Records,  must  be  con- 
vinced that  many  of  the  passages  which  we  have  quoted  from  the  dis- 
courses of  Elias  Hicks,  and  the  periodical  works  of  the  Separatists, 
inculcate  doctrines  of  infidelity — that  they  do  deny  the  divinity  of  our 
Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  universal  efficacy  of  his  most 
satisfactory  sacrifice  for  sin  without  the  gates  of  Jerusalem,  and  also  un- 
dervalue and  tend  to  destroy  all  confidence  in  the  authority  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures.  Such  doctrines,  we  feel  it  an  incumbent  duty,  to  pro- 
nounce to  be  unsound  and  antichristian,  and  contrary  to  the  faith 
which  we  have  always  held  and  promulgated  to  the  world,  ever  since 
we  have  been  a  people. 

For  we  have  always  professed  and  sincerely  believed,  that  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  was  miraculously  conceived  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  born 
of  the  Virgin  Mary — that  God  gave  not  the  spirit  by  measure  unto 
him,  but  that  all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  dwelt  in  him  bodily,  and 
of  his  fulness  have  all  we  received,  and  grace  for  grace — that  he  was 
given  for  God's  salvation  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  for  Gentiles  as  well 
as  Jews,  and  that  no  man  cometh  unto  the  Father  but  by  him — that 
he  was  tempted  in  all  points  as  we  are,  yet  without  sin,  the  prince  of 
this  world  having  no  part  in  him — that  he  wrought  many  mighty  mira- 
cles— that  he  bore  our  sins  in  his  own  body  upon  the  tree,  that  we  be- 
ing dead  to  sin,  might  live  unto  righteousness — that  he  laid  down  his 
life  for  the  sheep,  that  he  by  the  grace  of  God,  should  taste  death  for 
every  man  ;  and  he  is  therefore  the  propitiation  for  our  sins,  and  not 
for  ours  only,  but  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world — that  he  was  buried 
in  the  sepulchre  of  Joseph  of  Arimathea,  rose  again  from  the  dead  the 
third  day,  and  his  body  saw  no  corruption — that  he  discovered  himself 
to  his  disciples  for  the  space  of  forty  days,  ascended  up  on  high,  and 
now  sitteth  at  the  right  hand  of  God,  our  glorious  Mediator,  Interces- 
sor, and  Advocate  with  the  Father.  He  is  that  living,  eternal  Word 
that  was  in  the  beginning  with  God,  and  was  Ged  ;  by  him  were  all 
things  created  that  are  in  heaven  and  that  are  in  earth,  visible  and  in- 
visible, whether  they  be  thrones  or  dominions,  or  principalities  or 
powers,  all  things  were  created  by  him  and  for  him ;  and  he  is  before 
all  things,  and  by  him  all  things  consist.  He  is  now  come  in  spirit, 
and  by  his  divine  light  with  which  he  enlightens  every  man  that  cometh 
into  the  world,  he  manifests  and  reproves  for  sin,  and  as  he  is  obeyed, 
purifies  the  heart,  and  completes  the  work  of  sanctification  and  justifi- 
cation ;  and  thus  prepares  the  soul  to  receive  that  crown  of  everlast- 
ing glory,  which  he  will  give  to  all  them  that  love  and  serve  him  in 
sincerity  and  truth. 

This  has  been  our  religious  belief  from  the  rise  of  the  Society  to  the 
present  day,  in  confirmation  of  which  we  shall  adduce  some  testimo- 
nies from  the  writings  of  Friends,  given  forth  at  different  periods. 


(  28  ) 


George  Fox,  in  a  paper  which  he  wrote,  says  :  "  Christ  took  upon 
him  the  seed  of  Abraham,  he  doth  not  say  the  corrupt  seed  of  the  Gen- 
tiles; so  according  to  the  flesh,  he  was  of  the  holy  seed  of  Abraham 
and  David  ;  and  his  holy  body  and  blood  was  an  offering  and  a  sacri- 
fice for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world,  as  a  lamb  without  blemish,  whose 
flesh  saw  no  corruption.  By  the  one  offering  of  himself,  in  the  new 
testament  or  new  covenant,  he  has  put  an  end  to  all  the  offerings 
and  sacrifices  amongst  the  Jews  in  the  old  testament.  Christ  the  holy 
Seed,  was  crucified,  dead,  and  buried,  according  to  the  flesh,  and 
raised  again  the  third  day,  and  his  flesh  saw  no  corruption.  Though 
he  was  crucified  in  the  flesh,  yet  quickened  again  by  the  Spirit,  and  is 
alive  and  liveth  forevermore,  and  hath  all  power  in  heaven  and  in 
earth  given  to  him,  and  reigneth  over  all,  and  is  the  one  Mediator 
between  God  and  man,  even  the  man  Christ  Jesus."  Vol.  II.  p.  384. 

In  an  essay  entitled  the  royal  Law  of  God  revived,  he  also  says,  "  And 
further  saith  the  apostle  in  1  John  i.  1,  2.  1  We  have  an  advocate  with 
the  Father,  Jesus  Christ  the  righteous  ;  and  he  is  the  propitiation  for 
our  sins,  and  not  for  ours  only,  but  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world.' 
Now  mark,  this  is  a  large  word  for  all  people  to  take  notice  of,  that 
Jesus  Christ  is  the  propitiation  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world.  There- 
fore every  one  of  you  in  your  own  particulars,  know  this,  that  Christ 
Jesus  who  is  crowned  with  glory  and  honour,  did  taste  death  for  every 
man ;  mark,  for  every  man  ;  and  whosoever  denies  this  doctrine  is 

AN  ANTICHRIST  ;  AND  PREACHES  ANOTHER,  IS  A  FALSE  PREACHER  AND 
SEDUCER,  AND  BRINGS  PEOPLE  TO  TROUBLE  AND  LOSS  FROM  THAT  WHICH 
IS  RIGHT  AND  THEIR  DUE,  IN  WHICH  IS  THEIR  SATISFACTION.     So  these 

are  universal  things  to  all  mankind,  whereby  all  mankind  might  come 
out  of  the  earthly  old  Adam,  in  the  fall  and  transgression,  to  "Him  that 
hath  died  for  them  all,  and  purchased  them  all,  and  tasted  death  for  all, 
and  enlighteneth  them  all,  and  gave  his  grace  to  them  all ;  and  he 
willeth  that  all  might  be  saved,  and  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
truth  of  Christ,  who  doth  this.  And  whoever  teacheth  another  doc- 
trine, brings  people  into  sects  and  confusions,  to  destroy  one  another, 
where  they  have  not  natural  affections,  and  will  do  that  to  another, 
which  they  would  not  have  others  do  unto  them,  who  break  the  bonds 
thereby  of  civil  commerce  amongst  mankind;  and  the  religions,  ways, 
and  worships  of  all  such,  are  no  worships,  religions,  nor  ways  to  God, 
but  set  up  by  a  dark  peevish  spirit,  by  which  they  destroy  one  ano- 
ther, which  are  God's  creatures,  about  them  :  all  which  come  from  him 
who  is  out  of  the  truth,  whom  Christ  came  to  destroy."    p.  19. 

In  his  answer  to  all  such  as  falsely  say,  the  Quakers  are  no  Chris- 
tians, he  has  this  declaration  :  "  We  believe  concerning  God  the  Fa- 
ther, Son  and  Spirit,  according  to  the  testimony  of  the  Holy  Scriptures, 
which  we  receive  and  embrace  as  the  most  authentic  and  perfect  de- 
claration of  Christian  faith,  being  indited  by  the  holy  Spirit  of  God, 
that  never  errs;  1st,  that  there  is  one  God  and  Father,  of  whom  are 
all  things ;  2ndly,  that  there  is  one  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  by  whom  all 
things  were  made,  John  i.  and  xvii.  Rom.  ix.  who  was  glorified  with 
the  Father  before  the  world  began,  who  is  God  over  all,  blessed  for- 
ever, John  xiv.    That  there  is  one  Holy  Spirit,  the  promise  of  the 


(  29  ) 


Father  and  the  Son,  and  leader  and  sanctifier  and  comforter  of  his 
people,  1  John  v.  And  we  further  believe,  as  the  Holy  Scriptures 
soundly  and  sufficiently  express,  that  these  three  are  one,  even  the 
Father,  the  Word  and  Spirit."    p.  27. 

Robert  Barclay,  in  his  Apology,  says  :  "  For  the  infinite  and  most 
wise  God,  who  is  the  foundation,  root  and  spring  of  all  operation,  hath 
wrought  all  things  by  his  eternal  Word  and  Son.  This  is  that  Word 
that  was  in  the  beginning  with  God  and  was  God,  by  whom  all  things 
were  made,  and  without  whom  was  not  any  thing  made  that  was 
made.  This  is  that  Jesus  Christ,  by  whom  God  created  all  things,  by 
whom  and  for  whom  all  things  were  created  that  are  in  heaven  and  in 
earth,  visible  and  invisible,  whether  they  be  thrones  or  dominions,  or 
principalities  or  powers,  Col.  i.  16,  who  therefore  is  called  the  First 
born  of  every  creature,  ver.  15.  As  then  that  infinite  and  incompre- 
hensible Fountain  of  life  and  motion  operateth  in  the  creatures  by  his 
own  eternal  word  and  power,  so  no  creature  has  access  again  unto 
him,  but  in  and  by  the  Son,  according  to  his  own  express  words,  no 
man  knoweth  the  Father  but  the  Son,  and  he  to  whom  the  Son  will 
reveal  him,  Matt.  xi.  27.  Luke  x.  22.  And  again  he  himself  saith,  I 
am  the  way,  the  truth  and  the  life  ;  no  man  cometh  unto  the  Father 
but  by  me,  John  xiv.  6.  Hence  he  is  fitly  called  the  Mediator  betwixt 
God  and  man  :  for  having  been  with  God  from  all  eternity,  eeixg  him- 
self god,  and  also  in  time  partaking  of  the  nature  of  man,  through 
him  is  the  goodness  and  love  of  God  conveyed  to  mankind,  and  by  him 
again  man  receiveth  and  partaketh  of  these  mercies."  Apology,  p.  41. 

William  Penn,  in  "  A  serious  apology  for  the  principles  and  prac- 
tices of  the  Quakers,"  has  this  concise  confession  of  Faith  :  "  We  do 
believe  in  one  only  Holy  God  Almighty,  who  is  an  eternal  Spirit,  the 
Creator  of  all  things.  And  in  one  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  his  only  Son, 
and  express  image  of  his  substance  ;  who  took  upon  him  flesh  and 
was  in  the  world,  and  in  life,  doctrine,  miracles,  death,  resurrection, 
ascension  and  mediation,  perfectly  did,  and  does  continue  to  do,  the 
will  of  god  ;  to  whose  holy  life,  power,  mediation,  and  blood,  we  only 
ascribe  our  sanctification,  justification,  redemption,  and  perfect  salva- 
tion. And  we  believe  in  one  holy  Spirit,  that  proceeds  and  breathes 
from  the  Father  and  the  Son,  as  the  life  and  virtue  of  both  the  Father  and 
the  Son  ;  a  measure  of  which  is  given  to  all  to  profit  with  ;  and  he  that  has 
one  has  all,  for  those  three  are  one,  who  is  the  Alpha  and  Omega,  the 
first  and  the  last,  God  over  all,  blessed  forever,  amen."  Vol.  II.  p.  66. 

In  his  "Primitive  Christianity  revived,"  William  Penn  declares — 
"  We  do  believe  that  Jesus  Christ  was  our  holy  sacrifice,  atonement 
and  propitiation  ;  that  he  bore  our  iniquities,  and  that  by  his  stripes  we 
were  healed  of  the  wounds  Adam  gave  us  in  his  fall ;  and  that  God  is 
just  in  forgiving  true  penitents  upon  the  credit  of  that  holy  offering 
Christ  made  of  himself  to  God  for  us  ;  and  that  what  he  did  and  suf- 
fered, satisfied  and  pleased  God,  and  was  for  the  sake  of  fallen  man, 
that  had  displeased  God  :  and  that  through  the  offering  up  of  himself 
once  for  all,  through  the  Eternal  Spirit,  he  hath  forever  perfected  those 
(in  all  times)  that  were  sanctified,  who  walked  not  after  the  flesh  but 
after  the  Spirit.    Rom.  viii  1.    Mark  that."    Vol.  II.  p.  867. 


(  30  ) 


Richard  Claridge  on  justification,  says  ;  "  In  a  word,  if  justification 
be  considered  in  its  full  and  just  latitude,  neither  Christ's  work  without 
us,  in  the  prepared  body,  nor  his  work  within  us,  by  his  Holy  Spirit, 
are  to  be  excluded  ;  for  both  have  their  place  and  service  in  our  com- 
plete and  absolute  justification.  By  the  propitiatory  sacrifice  of 
Christ  without  us,  we,  truly  repenting  and  believing,  are  through  the 
mercy  of  God,  justified  from  the  imputations  of  sins  and  transgressions 
that  are  past,  as  though  they  had  never  been  committed  ;  and  by  the 
mighty  work  of  Christ  within  us,  the  power,  nature,  and  habits  of  sin 
are  destroyed ;  that  as  sin  once  reigned  unto  death,  even  so  now  grace 
reigneth,  through  righteousness,  unto  eternal  life,  by  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord.  And  all  this  is  effected,  not  by  a  bare  or  naked  act  of  faith, 
separate  from  obedience,  but  in  the  obedience  of  faith  ;  Christ  being 
the  author  of  eternal  salvation  to  none  but  those  that  obey  him."  p.  79. 

The  Society  of  Friends  published  a  declaration  of  its  faith  in  the  year 
1 693,  from  which  we  extract  the  following.  "  We  sincerely  profess  faith 
in  God,  by  his  only  begotten  Son  Jesus  Christ,  as  being  our  light  and  life, 
our  only  way  to  the  Father,  and  also  our  only  Mediator,  and  Advocate 
with  the  Father.  That  God  created  all  things,  he  made  the  worlds,  by  his 
Son  Jesus  Christ,  he  being  that  powerful  and  living  Word  of  God,  by 
whom  all  things  were  made;  and  that  the  Father,  the  Word  and  Holy  Spi- 
rit are  one,  in  divine  being  inseparable,  one  true,  living  and  eternal  God, 
blessed  forever.  Yet  that  this  Word,  or  Son  of  God,  in  the  fulness  of 
time,  took  flesh,  became  perfect  man,  according  to  the  flesh,  descend- 
ed and  came  of  the  seed  of  Abraham  and  David,  but  was  miraculously 
conceived  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary  ;  and  also 
further  declared  powerfully  to  be  the  Son  of  God,  according  to  the  spi- 
rit of  sanctification  by  the  resurrection  from  the  dead." 

"  That  in  the  Word,  or  Son  of  God,  was  life,  and  the  same  life  was 
the  light  of  men  ;  and  that  he  was  that  true  light  which  enlightens 
every  man  coming  into  the  world  ;  and  therefore  that  men  are  to  be- 
lieve in  the  light,  that  they  may  become  the  children  of  the  light. 
Hereby  we  believe  in  Christ  the  Son  of  God,  as  he  is  the  light  and 
life  within  us  ;  and  wherein  we  must  needs  have  sincere  respect,  and 
honour  to,  and  belief  in,  Christ,  as  in  his  own  unapproachable  and  in- 
comprehensible glory  and  fulness,  as  he  is  the  fountain  of  life  and 
light  and  giver  thereof  unto  us  ;  Christ  as  in  himself,  and  as  in  us  be- 
ing not  divided." 

"  That  as  man,  Christ  died  for  our  sins,  rose  again  and  was  receiv- 
ed up  into  glory  in  the  heavens  ;  he  having  in  his  dying  for  all,  been 
that  one  great,  universal  offering  and  sacrifice  for  peace,  atonement, 
and  reconciliation  between  God  and  man,  and  he  is  the  propitiation, 
not  for  our  sins  only,  but  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world.  We  were 
reconciled  by  his  death,  but  saved  by  his  life." 

"  That  Jesus  Christ  who  sitteth  at  the  right  hand  of  the  throne  of 
the  Majesty  in  the  heavens,  yet  he  is  our  king,  high  priest  and  pro- 
phet in  his  church,  a  minister  of  the  Sanctuary,  and  of  the  true 
tabernacle  which  the  Lord  pitched  and  not  man.  He  is  inter- 
cessor and  advocate  with  the  Father  in  heaven,  and  there  appearing 
in  the  presence  of  God  for  us,  being  touched  with  the  feeling  of  our 
infirmities,  sufferings  and  sorrows.    And  also  by  his  spirit  in  our 


(  31  ) 


hearts,  he  maketh  intercession  according  to  the  will  of  God,  crying 
Abba,  Father." 

"  That  the  gospel  of  the  grace  of  God  should  be  preached  in  the 
name  of  the  Father,  Son  and  Holy  Ghost,  being  one  in  power,  wis- 
dom and  goodness,  and  indivisible,  or  not  to  be  divided  in  the  great 
work  of  man's  salvation." 

"  We  sincerely  confess  and  believe  in  Jesus  Christ,  both  as  he  is 
true  God,  and  perfect  man ;  and  that  he  is  the  author  of  our  living 
faith  in  the  power  and  goodness  of  God,  as  manifested  in  his  son  Je- 
sus Christ,  and  by  his  own  blessed  spirit  or  divine  unction  revealed  in 
us,  whereby  we  inwardly  feel  and  taste  of  his  goodness,  life  and  vir- 
tue ;  so  as  our  souls  live  and  prosper  by  and  in  him  ;  and  the  inward 
sense  of  this  divine  power  of  Christ,  and  faith  in  the  same,  and  this 
inward  experience,  is  absolutely  necessary  to  make  a  true,  sincere,  and 
perfect  Christian  in  spirit  and  life." 

"  That  divine  honour  and  worship  is  due  to  the  Son  of  God  ;  and 
that  he  is  in  true  faith  to  be  prayed  unto,  and  the  name  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  called  upon,  as  the  primitive  Christians  did,  because  of 
the  glorious  union  or  oneness  of  the  Father  and  the  Son  ;  and  that  we 
cannot  acceptably  offer  up  prayers  and  praises  to  God,  nor  receive 
a  gracious  answer,  or  blessing  from  God,  but  in  and  through  his  dear 
Son  Christ."    See  Sewell's  History,  vol.  II.  p.  499. 

Besides  the  palpable  errors  we  have  enumerated,  Elias  Hicks  and 
his  adherents  deny  that  mankind  sustain  any  loss  through  the  fall  of 
Adam,*  asserting  that  children  come  into  the  world  precisely  in  the 
condition  he  did.*They  also  deny  the  existence  of  any  evil  spirit  by 
which  man  is  tempted,  distinct  from  his  own  propensities.!  "Heaven" 
they  say,  "is  a  state,  and  not  a  place  by  any  means. "J  "Belief," 
with  them,  ".is  no  virtue,  and  unbelief  no  crime: "j|  and  however  at 
times  they  may  make  high  pretensions  to  the  divine  light,  it  is  evident 
that  the  guide  which  they  follow  is  their  own  benighted  reason. 

Elias  Hicks  says  ;  "  In  those  things  which  relate  to  our  moral  con- 
duct, we  all  have  understandings  alike,  as  reasonable  beings  ;  and  we 
know  when  we  do  wrong  to  our  fellow  creatures  ;  we  know  it  by  our 
rational  understanding — we  want  xo  other  inspiration  than  rea- 
sox  and  justice."  Again  :  "  If  we  transgress  against  God  or  even 
against  our  fellow  creatures,  the  act  hath  its  adequate  reward,  and  it 
will  make  us  sorry  for  what  we  have  done — that  is  we  shall  be  losers 
by  it  and  gain  nothing,  for  no  man  shall  gain  by  doing  evil."  "He 
[the  Almighty]  has  set  good  and  evil  before  us,  and  left  us  to  elect 
for  ourselves."    Quaker,  vol.  II.  p.  258.  9. 

As  regards  morality,  they  want  no  other  revelation  than  reason  and 
justice,  and  when  we  transgress  against  God,  the  act  will  make  us 
sorry  for  what  we  have  done,  that  is  we  shall  be  losers  and  gain  noth- 
ing. While  they  speak  much  of  the  necessity  of  divine  revelation, 
reason  is  held  up  as  the  "balancing  and  comparing  principle,"  by 
which  we  are  to  test  those  revelations,  and  decide  whether  they  are 
"imprudent,"  or  "  counterfeit. "II    A  simple  and  child-like  reliance 

*  See  Quaker  1  vol.  p.  183.  and  Phil.  Ser.  p.  66.  i  Phil.  Ser.  p.  163.  166.  257.258. 
X  New  York  Ser.  p.  93.  ||  Quaker  1  vol.  146.  1T  N.  Y.  and  Phil.  Ser.  p.  90. 13. 208. 


(  32  ) 


upon  that  faith  which  is  of  the  operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God 
is  thus  disregarded,  and  the  proud  reason  of  man  exalted  into  the  seat 
of  judgment.  We  need  not  therefore  be  surprised  at  the  unsound 
opinions  which  they  entertain,  the  contemptuous  manner  in  which 
they  treat  the  inspirations  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  contained  in  the  scrip- 
tures of  Truth,  and  the  very  irreverent  and  unworthy  sentiments  re- 
specting the  blessed  Saviour  and  Redeemer  of  men,  with  which  their 
discourses  and  writings  abound,  as  if  it  were  a  chief  object,  to  decry 
the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  to  degrade  the  Lord  of  life  and  glory. 

The  contrast  between  the  Christian  principles  of  our  religious  Soci- 
ety, and  those  held  by  the  Separatists,  wTho  have  adopted  the  anti- 
scriptural  sentiments  of  Elias  Hicks,  must  be  strikingly  obvious  to  ev- 
ery unprejudiced  mind.  The  sorrowful  effects  of  these  principles  in 
deranging  the  order  and  subordination  necessary  to  the  well-being  of 
our  religious  Society,  the  disunity  and  discord  produced  by  them  in 
meetings  and  in  families,  have  been  very  fully  developed  in  the  last 
five  years,  not  only  within  the  limits  of  this  Yearly  meeting,  but  also 
in  many  other  parts.  We  believe  it  right  to  bear  our  decided  testi- 
mony against  such  principles,  as  tending  to  destroy  all  faith  in  the  fun- 
damental doctrines  of  the  Christian  religion,  and  to  break  asunder  the 
bands  of  civil  and  religious  society.  And  we  further  declare,  that  as 
such  who  entertain  and  propagate  them,  have  departed  from  the  teach- 
ings of  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  would  have  preserved  them  in  the  doc- 
trines of  Christ  Jesus  and  his  apostles,  we  cannot  unite  with  them  in 
church  fellowship,  nor  own  them  to  be  of  our  communion  ;  neither  can 
we  correspond  with  any  meetings  or  associations,  holding  those  prin- 
ciples, and  set  up  in  violation  of  the  excellent  order,  which  has  been 
instituted  among  us  in  the  unfoldings  of  Divine  wisdom.  While  we 
believe  it  to  be  a  religious  duty,  thus  to  stand  forth  in  the  defence  of 
the  gospel  of  Christ,  against  the  spirit  and  principles  of  libertinism  and 
infidelity,  we  have  no  doubt,  that  many  who  have  joined  in  the  present 
schism,  have  been  led  into  it,  by  the  influence  of  misrepresentation 
and  unfounded  prejudice  against  their  brethren,  and  without  a  full 
knowledge  of  the  principles  of  their  leaders.  For  such  as  these,  we 
feel  deep  regret  and  tender  solicitude  :  and  it  is  our  fervent  desire  for 
them,  and  for  all  others  who  have  departed  from  the  right  way  of  the 
Lord,  that  he  may  be  pleased  to  renew  the  visitations  of  his  love  and 
light  to  their  souls,  and  in  his  own  time,  gather  them  to  the  fold  of 
Christ's  sheep,  where  they  may  go  in  and  out,  and  find  pasture. 

In  contemplating  the  merciful  extension  of  divine  help  with  which 
Friends  have  been  favoured  from  time  to  time,  enabling  them  to  endure 
many  close  conflicts,  and  to  stand  fast  in  the  support  of  our  Christian 
principles  and  discipline,  we  desire  to  commemorate  the  Lord's  good- 
ness, and  to  place  our  confidence  in  him  alone,  firmly  believing,  that  as 
this  becomes  the  living  concern  of  the  members  of  our  religious  Socie- 
ty generally,  he  will  more  and  more  exalt  and  glorify  the  name  of  his 
beloved  Son,  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  in  and  amongst  us  ; 
to  whom  with  the  Father  be  ascribed  all  honour  and  praise  now  and 
forever.  Amen. 

Signed  by  direction  and  on  behalf  of  the  Yearly  Meeting. 

SAMUEL  BETTLE,  Clerk. 


